The United Nations conference on racism began yesterday amid controversy following a boycott by some Western countries and Israel.
That the conference was boycotted by the US, Canada and Germany amongst others is not only disappointing, but also immature on their part. By playing politics, these countries have actually weakened the event, intended to give the people who experience various forms of racism as well as intolerance the chance to be heard and helped.
The official reason given for the boycott is to avoid being part of a forum that might, just might, be perceived as 'anti-Semitic'. These countries have expressed their dissatisfaction at the attendance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, worrying that he might criticise Israel. But they cannot dictate who is criticised and who is not. Though these countries are Israel's allies, they should still be able to view the country's actions with some form of objectivity.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay rightly pointed out that "a handful of states have permitted one of two issues to dominate their approach to this issue, allowing them to outweigh the concerns of numerous groups of people that suffer racism&"
If anything, these countries' participation would have facilitated a productive and balanced discussion.
The main objective of the racism conference is to repair relations amongst countries, following the first racism conference in 2001 - which saw the US and Israel walk out at attempts to equate Zionism with racism - and display a united stance against all forms of discrimination.
In his opening address, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon warned of the rise of politics of xenophobia in today's society and said things might get worse with the global economic crisis. Let's hope the conference is not overshadowed by damaging criticism and discussions from one country and its allies.
