World
Bearing Witness In Geneva
AJC delegate Durban Review Conference reacts to Ahmadinejad, UN and victims' stories.
Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
then who are we?
Even if you do not care about Israel, if
you care about human rights violations,
racism, intolerance and xenophobia, then
you must look at the Durban Review
Conference and the United Nations
Human Rights Council in horror.
A
licia Blumenfeld Chandler, 30,
of Royal Oak was in Geneva,
Switzerland, from April 18-24 after
being selected to be part of an American
Jewish Committee (AJC) young leaders
delegation to the World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance, commonly known
as the Durban Review Conference.
The United Nations conference was a
follow-up to one held in Durban, South
Africa, in September 2001 that was marked
by a singular negative focus on Israel and
Zionism at the expense of human rights
abuses throughout the world as well as
outright displays of anti-Semitism by thou-
sands of anti-Israel activists.
Chandler is a graduate of North
Farmington High School, University of
Michigan Business School and Harvard
Law School. She has been on the board of
the AJC for three years and is an attorney
at Bodman LLP in Detroit.
Our interview:
Why did you decide to go to Geneva?
I felt it was important that a representative
from our Detroit Jewish community bear
witness. We often discount the impor-
tance of the United Nations, but what
happens at the U.N. is important to world
opinion, and to have the pure hatred that
occurred at Durban I be sanctioned by
the U.N. was nothing short of a travesty. I
felt it was important to go to the Durban
Review Conference to participate, listen
to the testimony of victims of racism and
discrimination from around the world
and, where possible, fight the anti-Semitic
mantra that Zionism is racism.
How did the conference meet your
expectations?
I was not prepared for was the sheer
emotion of listening to the testimony of
victims of human rights violations. Let me
be clear; no victims were allowed to testify
at the Durban Review Conference. Those
who violate human rights — such as
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
— were allowed to speak, but victims
were not. But at the Geneva Summit for
Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy,
hosted by U.N. Watch and approximately
30 other human rights groups, victims
from Rwanda, Darfur, Libya and elsewhere
were allowed to testify.
A20
May 28 • 2009
Alicia Blumenfeld Chandler, 30, in Geneva for the Durban Review Conference
Their stories were as painful to listen to
as listening to Holocaust survivors speak.
In some ways, it was more painful because
the victims of Darfur are speaking as their
friends and families are still being killed
and the world will still not act.
Do you think the United States was
right to boycott the conference?
I wholeheartedly agree. The administra-
tion investigated whether the Durban
Review Conference could be salvaged
and — only when they determined
that it could not — they boycotted the
conference. Boycotting the conference was
a serious decision; but in the end, it was
the correct decision.
That said, I support the decision of the
United States to rejoin the United Nations
Human Rights Council. Hopefully, the
United States can use its new position on
the Council to bring a voice to victims
from around the world and shame those
who are committing genocide, who are
torturing and killing their own people.
What did you think when you heard
Iranian president Ahmadinejad's key-
note address?
Had I be sitting close to a door, I may
have just walked out. But I am happy
I didn't. I needed to be in that room to
bear witness to this evil. It is still hard for
me to describe the horrors of being in the
room while Ahmadinejad spoke. His words
were horrific, but I expected them. The
Holocaust did not happen. The myth of the
Holocaust was just a pretext for the forma-
tion of Israel. Zionism is evil and Zionists
(just code for Jews) have to be eradicated.
These words are horrible, but the part
of the experience that literally took away
my breath was to have people around me
applauding him and shouting words of
encouragement. The people sitting around
me were not wearing swastikas or white
robes. They were in suits and dresses. Yet
they seemed to believe there was some value
in what this evil man had to say. I thought
that this must have been like listening to
Hitler in 1932. You could see the evil, but
those around you were mesmerized by his
words and put some value in his insanity.
Besides Israel and anti-Semitism, what
broader human rights issues struck a
chord with you?
This week reminded me the importance of
the phrase "Never Again." We say "Never
Again" yet 1 million people were killed in
the Rwandan genocide in 100 days. We
say "Never Again" yet there is genocide
going on today in Darfur. We cannot talk
about the Holocaust in isolation. We need
to teach the lesson of the Holocaust so
that no people will have to face the horror
of genocide. If we only care about the
Holocaust without caring about Darfur or
Rwanda or the other people suffering in
the world because of their race or religion,
What did you take away from the experi-
ence and what do you hope to do with it?
First, I hope to continue my relationship
with U.N. Watch. They are an important
group fighting this battle in the United
Nations Human Rights Council every day.
U.N. Watch tries to hold the Human Rights
Council accountable for both their actions
and inactions. I also plan on becoming
active in the diplomatic activates of the
AJC.
Most importantly, I learned that we do
not have to run from difficult conversa-
tions. At panel discussions and in the hall-
ways, I was able to turn to someone next to
me and introduce myself as a representa-
tive of American Jewish Committee. I was
worried that I would be spit on or yelled at.
But, without exception, the person next to
me shook my hand and introduced them-
selves. I am sure that many did not agree
with me. But it is necessary to start the
conversation. In the end, these conversa-
tions are our only chance at progress.
❑
Read more about Chandler's trip on her blog
at www.aliciasdurbanreviewconferenceblog.
blogspot.com and about the work of the AJC's
UN Watch at www.unwatch.org .
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
A United Nations report this month
criticized Israel for military attacks
against U.N. facilities in Gaza in
January, saying the attacks were inten-
tional and targeted civilians.
The Answer
Israel called the U.N. report biased,
misleading and tendentious, ignoring
of Israel's accounts and solely favoring
the accounts of the incidents provided
by the terrorist Hamas.
- Allan Gale
Jewish Community Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
© May 28, 2009 Jewish Renaissance Media