This scene brought tears to my eyes and for a moment I sat there wondering why I had suddenly become so emotional. Was I was happy that these nations had stood up for the truth and for Israel? Did I think that European leaders were finally saying NO to anti-Israel sentiment? Was I saddened by the words of Ahmadinejad? Was I angry at the United Nations for letting this happen?
I thought for a moment and then realized why I had suddenly become so emotional: I was overcome because I did not believe what I was seeing. This could not be real. The United Nations, the organization created from the rubble of World War Two, the organization meant to bring the world together, not heeding any warnings and not considering their actions whatsoever, went ahead and invited Ahmadinejad to be a keynote speaker at THE Anti-Racism Conference of the year. This revelation may sound quite naive, but deep down I am somewhat of an idealist, and I like to place my trust in mankind and hope that people make the right decisions. Today I was of course proven wrong, and it shattered me.
A quick parallel story: In my 4th year at York University, the York Federation of Students (YFS) invited me, on behalf of Hillel, to participate in a "Stop the Hate" Campaign, which would focus on stopping hatred on campus. They wanted to focus each month on a different form of hatred (Islamophobia, Racism, Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia, etc.), and have a "launch" in the Student Centre so that each President from each group could stand up and say what their group would do to combat hatred on campus. I spoke about Anti-Semitism and Holocaust awareness, and shortly after I was approached by the President of the YFS, who told me that the President of the Arab Student Collective would be speaking about Israel. I asked "will he be saying good things about Israel?" She said no. I asked "will he be saying how much he hates Israel (at a stop the hate campaign)?" and she said "probably." I told her about how ridiculous it would be to have him get up at a Stop the Hate campaign and rant about how awful he thinks Israel is. She agreed, and after some shuttle diplomacy on her behalf, she came back to me with "we don't want to censor him," to which I shrugged my shoulders and said "if he ruins this campaign from the beginning and fills this building with hatred, this campaign is over." The President of the Arab Student Collective naturally stood up and jumped into a rant about the devil is on campus (blatantly referring to Jewish students and Zionists on campus), and spoke for 5 minutes, his words filled with seething hatred. Following this entirely foreseeable event, the YFS leadership and I convened, at which point I expressed my utter outrage, they expressed their "shock" at what he said, and they issued a weak apology. The campaign naturally fell apart rather quickly after that.
Compare this to today. Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, invited Ahmadinejad to address the opening of the conference on April 20 (April 20 is also the beginning of Yom Hashoa- Holocaust Memorial Day, and what would be Hitler's 120th birthday). After Ahmadinejad spoke and 23 delegations left the room, Ban Ki Moon issued this statement: "I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve."
My words are lost on this statement.
It is despicable, and to take a word from David Miliband, "reprehensible", that this occurred at the platform of today's conference, and Ban Ki Moon should be absolutely ashamed, in fact should resign, because of what he has allowed to occur. If those are his honest feelings, if he REALLY didn't think that the events of today would happen, then we are currently faced with the most oblivious Secretary General the United Nations has ever seen. Just like what happened at York, the leadership was suddenly "shocked" by what they saw unfold, and issued a weak apology. Just like the Stop the Hate Campaign at York quickly unfurled, I can only hope that the same will happen with this poor excuse for an international conference.
It bewilders me that such hatred can go unabated, and this was perhaps the source of my emotion.
Many in the galleries applauded the delegates that left the room when Ahmadinejad spoke. The actions of these delegates were certainly commendable, but not enough. I believe the only delegate that left the room and then left the entire conference was the delegation from the Czech Republic. Every other delegation returned to their seats after Ahmadinejad spoke. If all those other leaders followed in the footsteps of the Czech Republic (to the airport) or followed the actions of countries like Canada, the United States, Italy, Israel, Poland, Australia, etc. and boycotted this farce of a conference from the beginning, THAT would have been impressive. As many have said, following the text of the draft about the Conference from the United Nations, and their invitation to allow Ahmadinejad to speak, this whole conference seemed surreal.
I have always believed and maintained that people know better, that when it gets down to the grind, people will not REALLY do such stupid things, but I suppose welcome to 2009. When it comes to racism, especially when it comes to Israel, morality, rationality, logic, is all put aside.
This is why these emotions continued throughout the day when I went to the Jerusalem Post website and saw the headline, "ISRAEL REMEMBERS 6 MILLION WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST." Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is today as well. Coincidence? G-d, I hope so. Though with the way things are going, probably not.
There are a few comments that I heard from Israeli leaders at this evening's ceremony that I want to share here.
Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau: "Yad Vashem decided to dedicate this year's ceremony to children in the Holocaust, so that Israel's children might appreciate what we have: A national home. A state. Freedom. Sovereignty. Pride. Backbone. We can and should kiss this country's ground, which enables to live a full life with a Jewish identity in our home,"
President Shimon Peres: "Anti-Semitism is not a Jewish disease, and its cure is incumbent upon those who perpetrate it. We have learned that our spiritual heritage is dependent on physical security. A people which lost a third of its members, a third of its children to the Holocaust, does not forget, and must not be caught off-guard."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: "We will not let the Holocaust deniers perpetrate another Holocaust on theJewish people. This is the highest responsibility of the State of Israel and of myself as prime minister. Israel is the shield and the hope of the Jewish People. Here we create for the glory of our people and all of mankind. The country's achievements in every field - culture and science, medicine and security - are groundbreaking. We are a nation small in number but of great fortitude."
Hate is not a form of speech to be protected. It is a form of speech that is lacking in value, is not productive, and has no place at a conference for the civilized world. My shock today came not from Ahmadinejad. The speech he used today was almost verbatim from the speech he used at the United Nations General Assembly in September. This is what he believes, this is what he says, so we should not be shocked everytime we hear him denounce Israel, Zionism, Jews, or question whether the Holocaust did indeed happen.
Our shock and anger must be directed toward the United Nations, toward this world body that has lost control and has no idea how to tackle fundamental issues like hatred anymore. What occurred today was shocking, appalling, and this surprise must be turned into action. So many people have expressed outrage about what has happened, but what will be done?
For world leaders to speak is good, but easy. Perhaps all those countries that boycotted this conference should hold their own conference on how to tackle racism. They should come together to teach the world that their values kept them away from this theatre of hatred, and will keep them united in preventing this hatred from being exploited on the world stage. Maybe they should create their own organization, the United Democratic Nations, that upholds values that you will find in a democracy, values that attempt to better the human condition, not worsen it.
Ahmadinejad is a dangerous force in today's world, but the words he speaks are only given value by those who give him a platform. It is for this reason that today, with a heavy heart, I call on the United Nations to wake up, realize the wrong you have done, and try to accentuate the good in the world rather than perpetuate the bad.
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