US Boycotting Racism Conference

Happy Sunday morning to everyone!

Sometimes you just have to scratch your head, I guess...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/18/U.S.racism.conference/index.html

The Obama administration has decided to boycott the UN Racism Conference that will be held in Geneva next week due to the wording in some of the documents that paints Israel in a negative light apparently and some other wording relating to "incitement".

Considering the fact that we just elected our first African-American President, and the strides we have made in the past 150 years to combat racism and its evils here in the US, I think this is a huge mistake to not have a delegation in attendance.

Are we too supportive of Israel and their quest to secure their homeland? I think if you look at the history of the conflict between the Israeli's and the Palestinian's (and other groups in that region; Egypt, Syria, etc...) you will see that Israel is the aggressor as often as they are the victim. Does it make sense to back them so vehemently to the point where we will boycott an international forum dealing with racism?

I think not...

As for the section on "incitement", I haven't read the information but it is being reported that it contradicts the US' stance on Free Speech. Obviously it's an issue if a journalist makes claims against a local government and is slammed in a jail for it... but again, is the best course of action NOT showing up for the conference?

Or rather, does it make more sense to send a group there to voice our concerns and work towards resolving them with the rest of the world? The Congressional Black Caucus seems to think so and I think I am in agreement with them.

Put it this way, if we don't show up do we have any right to complain about anything that comes out of the conference? I think it's a little egotistic to think that our opinion counts if we won't actively participate.

At any rate, I'd love to see us come to our senses and get a delegation there. Since that probably won't happen, I can't wait to see the end result of this conference and our response to what comes out of it.

Waiting with baited breath...

Peace out...
Heitz