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World Jewish News
Elie Wiesel: Durban II likely to harm UN, not Israel
06.03.2009
Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel on Thursday said the passing of resolutions attacking Israel at the upcoming "Durban II" conference on racism would only harm the summit's host, the United Nations.
"The anti-Israeli resolutions to be expected at Durban II will harm the UN, not Israel," Weisel told Haaretz. He was referring to reports that draft resolutions for the summit brand Israel as an occupying state that carries out racist policies.
Wiesel, a celebrated author who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, was born in 1928 in Romania and survived the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
The April 20-25 meeting in Geneva is seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism.
"If these resolutions are not altered and corrected, the UN, and not Israel, will leave the conference damaged and ridiculed," the Nobel laureate added. "The passing of such resolutions will debase the ideal that the global organization seeks to represent to the very lowest level."
On Thursday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced that his country was pulling out of the Durban II United Nations conference on racism due to "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements" in the draft of the event's final document.
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
Источник: Haaretz
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