UN racism conference begins as US and other nations boycott News
UN racism conference begins as US and other nations boycott

[JURIST] The UN Durban Review Conference on racism [official website] began on Monday with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile; JURIST news archive] expressing concerns [press release] over the decision by the US and several other countries to boycott the summit. The US, along with Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, and New Zealand, decided to boycott to conference due the draft declaration's position on Israel and the Middle East. Additionally, the selection of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official profile; JURIST news archive] as a speaker at the conference has led to protests [NYT report] from the Israeli government. Ban defended the draft declaration, saying:

The document before us is carefully balanced. It addresses key issues. It sets the stage for concrete action in a global campaign for justice for victims of racism worldwide. I deeply regret that some have chosen to stand aside. I hope they will not do so for long.

Like Theodore Roosevelt, among others, my allegiance and sympathies have always been with the men and women in the arena, struggling with courage and determination to win the day. It may be easier to criticize those efforts from afar, but it does not advance the universal cause. We need you.

The conference is first of its kind since 2001. Many critics viewed the 2001 conference has being anti-Israel, which undoubtedly led to the heightened concerns leading up to this year's conference.

Last month, the US initially threatened [JURIST report] to boycott [Washington Post report] the conference due to the document draft's bias against Israel. The US has refused to continue negotiations [press release] on the document that the Department of State believes "must not single out any one country or conflict, nor embrace the troubling concept of 'defamation of religion' [and] … should not go further than the DDPA on the issue of reparations for slavery." In preparation of the conference, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] passed a resolution [JURIST report] last month calling for laws against defamation of religion.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.