oints of view
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz
Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett
Interim Editor: Alan Hitsky
Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar
>> Send letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com
Publisher's Notebook
Editorial
Durban III Sounds
Anti-Zionist Beat
F
Latino Press Publisher Elias Gutierrez, Wayn State Professor Hayg
Oshagan, Michigan Chronicle Senior Editor Bankole Thompson, Korean
Weekly Publisher Tack Yong Kim and Jewish News Publisher Arthur
Horwitz at the New Economy initiative press conference
I Arthur Horwitz
Mackinac Island
E
ven with a whirlwind of
activity enveloping this
month's annual Mackinac
Policy Conference, a press gather-
ing hosted by the Detroit Regional
Chamber of Commerce and
the New Economy Initiative for
Southeast Michigan on the mas-
sive porch of Mackinac Island's
Grand Hotel should have attracted
more interest.
A few secular news media
representatives clustered around
New Economy Initiative Executive
Director David Egner as he
announced the awarding of a
$350,000 grant to fund the first
year of the Ethnic and Minority
Media Partnership, a groundbreak-
ing collaboration among five of the
region's largest and most influential
ethnic and minority publishers,
and the digital content company
Issue Media Group.
The five publishers represent
the African American (Michigan
Chronicle), Jewish (the Jewish
News), Hispanic (Latino Press),
Arab American (Arab American
News) and Korean (Korean Weekly)
communities.
The conspicuous absence of
secular media representatives from
the press conference helps to frame
one of the many challenges facing
the Detroit region ... its primary
information sources continue to
overlook the growing role and
importance ethnic, immigrant and
minority communities are playing
in the region's economic, cultural
and social revitalization.
For our data-driven Gov. Rick
Snyder, the numbers about these
communities paint a compelling
picture, one that demands the state
put out a "welcome mat" for them.
The Numbers Talk
Compared to the rest of America,
New Economy Initiative infor-
mation reveals that Southeast
Michigan immigrant/ethnic/
minority entrepreneurs:
•Are more than three times as
likely to start a new business;
•Are nearly four times as likely to
file an international patent;
•Were six times as likely to
start a high-tech firm between
1995-2005 (placing Michigan third
among the 50 states);
•Are the recipients of more than
half of the advanced degrees in
engineering awarded by Michigan
universities.
In any language, all of this
translates into job creation, greater
prosperity and a more diverse busi-
ness base.
The Ethnic and Minority Media
Partnership adds visibility, voice,
credibility and leadership for
these communities while filling
the void left by secular media. And
its collaboration with Issue Media
Group assures that the content it
generates can be accessed across
an array of digital platforms (see
www.semichiganstartup.corn/
communities for an example).
Six years ago, New Economy
Initiative aggregated $100 mil-
lion from 10 local, regional and
national foundations to acceler-
ate the transformation of Metro
Detroit into an innovation-based
economy. The newly announced
grant is a strong signal that it is
looking for additional voices that
bypass status-quo journalism.
Building The Case
Egner's press conference remarks
underscored the importance of
ethnic, foreign-born and minority
entrepreneurs and the Ethnic and
Minority Media Partnership for
capturing and telling their stories
to local, national and international
audiences.
"Southeast Michigan's ethnic,
minority and foreign-born entre-
preneurs are key to the region's
long-term revitalization and
future economic growth, and
ignite the overall entrepreneurial
spirit of the region:' Egner said.
"The Ethnic and Minority
Media Partnership is the ideal
platform to showcase Southeast
Michigan's ethnic, immigrant and
minority communities as catalysts
for economic renewal and growth.
They are creators of new technolo-
gies and products, which are sold
around the world, and can serve
as champions to encourage other
ethnic groups and immigrants
to plant their entrepreneurial
seeds and grow their fresh ideas
in a region with a strong business
development support system and
access to resources."
Chamber Support
Sandy K. Baruah, the president
and chief executive officer of the
Detroit Regional Chamber and
organizer/host of the entire con-
ference, also found time to partici-
pate in the press conference.
"Southeast Michigan, from its
businesses to its people, is an
international region, uniquely
positioned on the busiest bor-
der crossing in North America:'
Baruah said.
"The economic benefits immi-
Grant on page 29
28
June 16 3 2011
ollowing Canada's and Israel's lead, the United
States announced it won't participate in a
September meeting at the United Nations in New
York to mark the 10th anniversary of the Durban confer-
ence on racism.
The Sept. 21 meeting — and its degenerative agenda of
lies and innuendoes against Zionism — is dubbed Durban III.
On Dec. 24, the U.N. General Assembly voted to hold
the September session, "Combating Racism and Follow-
up of the Durban Programme of Action." Durban III is
meant to mark the 10-year anniversary of the U.N.'s World
Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, dur-
ing which the delegations from the United States and
Israel walked out in protest as the tenor turned increas-
ingly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. The conference's final
document singled out Israel for condemnation.
Chillingly, the forthcoming event is set for shortly after
the 10th anniversary commemoration of 9-11, a catastro-
phe spurred by the same ideology of hatred and terror
that the initial Durban conference came to represent.
Credit the U.S. State Department for its decision to
buck Durban III, which is coming at a crossroads in the
history of the State of Israel as it fights enemies on
nearly every border.
In a June 1 letter to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a
leading voice against U.S. participation at Durban III, the
State Department wrote: "In December, we voted against
the resolution establishing this event because the Durban
process included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Sem-
itism, and we did not want to see that commemorated."
The letter added, "The United States is fully committed
to upholding the human rights of all people and to combat-
ing racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance and big-
otry."
In December, Israel announced it would boycott Durban
III. "The Durban conference in 2001, with its anti-Semitic
undertones and displays of hatred for Israel and the
Jewish world, left us scars that will not heal quickly,"
Israel's Foreign Ministry declared. Canada, whose
Conservative Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper is one
of Israel's best friends, opted out a month before.
Gillibrand applauded the State Department decision. "I
commend the Obama administration decision to withdraw
from this event," Gillibrand said. "We all witnessed how
extreme anti-Semitic and anti-American voices took over
Durban I and Durban II — and we should expect the same
thing to happen with Durban III."
The U.S. and Israel, along with seven other countries,
boycotted Durban II in Geneva in 2009. Durban II was
meant to review conclusions of the original confer-
ence. One of its highlights: Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's keynote speech assailing Zionism, which
prompted a walkout by several nations in protest.
All U.N. member-states that appreciate the texture
of the U.N. mission of defending and protecting human
rights should boycott Durban III. B'nai B'rith International
is right: The U.N. is incapable of considering the very
serious topic of racism in a meaningful way.
The first Durban tried hard to validate the perverse
theory that Zionism is racism. The Durban process lega-
cy of hate, intolerance and double standards is worthy of
denouncing — not celebrating.