Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 12:24:12 +0100

 

IS THERE A WILL FOR JEWISH NGOs TO SPLIT THE ANTI-RACIST WORLD MOVEMENT ?

(Sorry if sometimes my english is not very comprehensible; I'm french speaking)

 

Before Durban, we assisted to the emergence of an unformal and welcome

World Movement against racism. After Durban, we are more and more facing a

split of this movement. Among those who are working to this spliting,

Jewish NGOs are the most involved. This is quite clear after reading on the

Icare discussion-list number of post-Durban letters sent by Jewish NGOs

like the Simon Wiesenthal Center, COBASE and other individuals. With their

critics, their wishes or their plans, their target is SANGOCO, after the

disappereance of the NGO International Stering Committee (ISC), also under

post-Durban Jewish NGO's attacks. Presented as the main responsible of the

Jewish unsuccessfulness in Durban, the South African NGO Coordination is

not only demonised. It must be punished !

 

Of course, some elements have to be pointed out :

- The Jewish NGOs and their members were not very at ease in Durban;

- Some extremist individuals were quite antisemitic during the NGO Forum;

- SANGOCO and the ISC could do a better work, even if globally it was positive;

- The NGO Declaration & Programme of Action was not very tender with Israel

state and the sionism.

 

But we can't accept the lynching targeting SANGOCO we are viewing. And as

this organisation has still many (and both critical and strong) supporters

among the anti-racist World Movement, the result of the Jewish NGOs attacks

is a progressive spliting of a movement they cannot controll as they want

and in which they have small chance for a leadership, as Durban and

post-Durban still demonstrate it.

 

I - JEWISH NGOs SPLITING ACTION IN DURBAN

 

The progressive spliting of the World anti-racist movement by Jewish NGOs

started first in Durban, after the controversial adoption of the NGO

documents. The attacks focused on these documents, because of their "hatred

language" against Israel and Sionism (and not against Jews, as it is

largely diffused). Some strong actions were launched :

 

1. Jewish NGOs fiercely condamned and rejected the NGO documents. In doing

so, they confused themselves with the Israel State interests and the

Sionism. It is something well to know within our anti-racist Movement.

On the other hand one should ask why the Jewish NGOs, with their allies,

didn't advocate during the Durban process for the need of an Harmonization

Structure above the Drafting Committee, as last step before the plenary. It

was so obvious that the "Voices of Victims" concept adopted for the

drafting of the Declaration could not avoid some "hatred languages" from

certain NGOs already identified during the Durban process (see Tehran

Declaration, etc.). Why do the Jewish NGOs and their allies dropped out

themselves from this process only at its end ?

 

2. Strenghtened by the international medias campaign against the NGO

documents, Jewish NGOs unformally but strongly invited all the parties

involved in the NGO process to choose publicly their camp. So that the they

were soon followed by a group of East-European NGOs. International NGOs

(Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, etc.) chose the Jewish camp

and, in rejecting the NGO documents, rejected the majority voices of the

other victims. Even the NGO Drafting committee felt itself forced to give

its position. But the attempt to release a common statement didn't succeed

because of lack of consensus.

But, above all, Jewish NGOs failed to gain voices of the important West

European Caucus because of the vigilance of the victims members (Africans

and Asians) of European NGOs who succeeded in stopping at the last minute a

Press release close to Jewish positions. Something interesting here is that

the split in Durban happened especially within the European Caucus between

the "professionnals" (mainly Whites) and the "victims" (mainly Blacks and

Asians). This split should arise an after Durban imperative and necessary

debate on which consensus to reach within European NGOs : the

"professionals" are they commited and faithfull to the "victims" interests

and positions or to their boss (European Union) interests and positions, or

to their Western consciousness (their cultural guiltyness vis-a-vis the

Jews) ?...

This last question of Western cultural guiltyness vis-a-vis Jews has to be

debated too. Because, by pushing systematically Westerners in Jewish camp,

when Jews plays their victim role, it doesn't create a clear commitment in

our common struggle against racism. And if Western cultural guiltyness

exists vis-a-vis Africans and African descendants too, it rarely push

Westerners to adopt the same position than African and African descendant

victims as demonstrated it the Slavery and Colonialism issues : in

Strasbourg, European NGOs refused to include in the Declaration a paragraph

on anti-Black Racism. There was no "hatred language" against Blacks, but

just no language at all !...

 

3. Jewish NGOs and allies made pressure on other parties involved in the

NGO process in order to reject the NGO documents. So, the High Commissioner

for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, after some days of hesitation, made a

statement refusing to present the NGO Declaration & Plan of Action to the

Governmental Conference. She so refused to officially bring to governments

the hundreds voices of the victims just because one of them put his veto.

And this, without any relevant reasons, without taking in account at least

the following elements, as demonstrated also all those (NGOs,

governments...) who adopted the same position :

- other States (Mauritania, Sudan, etc.) are not namely well treated

neither in the NGO documents; there were even violent reactions in Durban

from Mauritanian NGOs close to the Mauritanian regim; but Mary Robinson

pointed out and focused on only the Israel casis;

- the NGO documents, as well as the NGO Forum, were not formally ordered by

the High Commissionner, who was just a facilitator and an interface between

the NGOs and governments;

- there were no agreement between the High Commissioner and the NGOs to

make the NGO documents scope or reflect the High Commissionner's personnal

views on Palestine;

- there was an implicite agreement between the High Commissioner and the

NGOs on the concept of "Voices of Victims" adopted for the drafting of the

Declaration; and everybody, including Mrs Robinson (through her Liaison

office), was already acknowledged, during the preparatory process, on the

content of the Palestinian and Arab voices;

- there is no NGO tradition of a politically correctness with Governments

(if those governments have declared that Sionism is no more a racism, on

which basis this statement (not a law) must be adopted by NGOs, especially

Palestinian ones?);

- as Bush demonstrates it with his enemy Ben Laden (condemned before to be

in court and who gave to Bush the opportunity of a new "Crusade"), the High

Commissionner cannot expect from a Palestinian Human Rights NGO to be fair

with the Israel policy and actions in the occupied Territories;

- the expected role of the High Commissionner is not to get down into the

NGO arena and to choose a camp (she doesn't do it in the Governments arena

: she never publicly condemned the "hatred language" from Arab

delegations); her role is to be really "High", above the NGO multiple

expressions, especially when we know that there is no "hatred language" in

the NGO documents, except if we agree on this simplist equation :  attacks

against Israel and Sionism = attacks against Jews.

 

II - JEWISH NGOs SPLITING ACTION AFTER DURBAN

 

Strenghtened by their last minute success in Durban (by spliting the NGO

community and reducing to nothing the now  discredited NGO work), and

pushed by the favorable and strong wind brought by the 11th September

events, Jewish NGOs have started acting on the actors of their Durban

humiliation : ISC and especially SANGOCO. The objective will be to

eliminate, to isolate and to weaken them. How ? By a violent campaign

against them, within the anti-racist community and especially before some

international influencable bodies like the UN General Secretary and the UN

High Commissioner on Human Rights.

 

1. THE ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE SANGOCO - In a violent letter addressed to Mary

Robinson on the 26th october, Shimon Samuels, from the Simon Wiesenthal

Center invited her to stop considering the ISC and SANGOCO as relevant

interlocutors in the Durban follow up process. As the ISC is now out of the

attacks, after dissolving itself, these attacks target only SANGOCO. This

organisation still exists and is willing to play a major role in the World

anti-racist Movement. And, as far as SANGOCO is not considered as a racist

or an antisemitic organisation, no one can eliminate this NGO from any role

it would like to play at any level and in any international arena without

causing a split in the Movement between those who will approuve and those

who will not.

 

2. THE ATTEMPT TO ISOLATE SANGOCO - With their campaign to demonize

SANGOCO, Jewish NGOs are sending a clear message to the rest of NGOs :

SANGOCO has to be isolated within the anti-racist NGOs community, because

unfrequentable. This kind of campaign, which mostly succeed on Western

consciousnesses, because of its guiltyness feeling with Jews, cannot work

on other and less influencable consciousnesses. SANGOCO still benefits

solidarity within the World anti-racist Movement, especially from African

and African descendant NGOs. These allies are not willing to follow the

Jewish NGO direction.

 

3. THE ATTEMPT TO WEAKEN SANGOCO - Another aspect of the Jewish NGOs

strategy against SANGOCO is to weaken and even humiliate this organisation,

particularly by inviting all eventual donors to refuse any grant to them.

After mobilizing successfully the economically strong South African Jewish

community, Jewish NGOs are now publicly puting pressures on the UN donator,

preventing them to give funds to SANGOCO. Their letters to the General

Secretary and to the High Commissioner are very clear about that.

 

BEYOND PASSIONS, LET'S BUILD TOGETHER A UNIQUE AND STRONG WORLD MOVEMENT

AGAINST RACISM

 

It is quite clear that Jewish NGOs are willing to punish SANGOCO for its

lèse-majesté crime (the lack of repression against some antisemitic groups

in Durban). It is quite clear that Jewish NGOs are attempting to pull the

NGO community towards a totalitarian and a short-minded judeo-centrism : as

for the NGO Declaration & Plan of Action, an anti-racist World Movement is

worthy only if there is nothing tickling and irritating Jewish egos. This

kind of It is also quite clear that the most relevant result of Jewish NGO

campaign against the NGO documents as well as against SANGOCO is only the

spliting of the anti-racist Movement.

 

On the other hand, it is quite clear that SANGOCO cannot be considered as a

racist or an antisemitic organisation. Above all, they don't have lessons

to receive from anyone, especially from Jewish NGOs (how many of them

condemned and acted against the Israeli support of the Apartheid regim?).

SANGOCO members have independantly made a necessary autocriticism on their

role during NGO Forum process. They have cleaned up from the organisation

some extremist elements. For clarification and for the need of good

relations, they have launched  in South Africa a constructive dialogue with

the Jewish community (who was formerly pro-Apartheid, at the exception of

some Jews who were prominent ANC members). All that is quite enough to show

their goodwill and the fact that they have taken in account critics on

their role. What else do want Jewish NGOs to calm their hanger ? To see

SANGOCO "dissolved" as calls for COBASE ? Or to see SANGOCO come to them on

knees to beg their pardon ?

 

Let's rather start looking beyond all our passions, frustrations and

complexes in order to build a strong and unique anti-racist World Movement.

This movement will never stand up if our energies and dynamics are focused

on attacks against each other.

 

Please, Jewish comrades and friends, SANGOCO has heard you. We all  have

heard you. Your campaign against this organisation is counter-productive

for our common struggle. Let's go ahead  now and be constructive, without

rounding and rounding on the same and small spot.

 

Judeo-centrism within a World Movement against Racism is the negation, or

at least the marginalization of other victims. As still Jewish NGOs and

Mary Robinson's position against the NGO Declaration and Plan of Action

shows it. This trend is not suitable and is inappropriate for the future of

our common struggle and for its anti-discriminatory logic, values and aims.

 

All victims, all united, all recognised !

 

Peace,

 

Mutombo Kanyana

Chief Editor, Regards Africains magazine

Member of the Groupe de Réflexion et d'Action contre le Racisme anti-Noir

(branch of the Swiss Forum Against Racism)

Geneva - Switzerland