planet earth looks blue

As expected, Durban II was a disaster, much to the chagrin of Navi Pillay, the present High Commissioner for Human Rights.  She had tried so hard to make the second world conference on Racism respectable, but without the presence of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, as well as a handful of other western countries, Durban II never had much hope, and racism remains a world taboo.  No one wants to discuss it.  Why?  Just because of Ahmedinejad?

23 EU representatives walked out of the conference once the Iranian President began speaking.  Just like at the first conference in South Africa in 2001, he called out Israel for being an ‘oppressive Zionist regime’.  This is the cited reason that the entire western conglomerate of nations either boycotted or bailed out on Durban II.  But what about the rest of Ahmedinejad’s speech?  He didn’t only talk about Israel, but the United States as well, even Europe.  He flat out accused the US of being ruled by the war machine and energy interests.  Pointed out the Iraqi and Afghanistan death toll as well as financial toll for the US led invasions, and poised the question of how much blame does the self-ascribed superpower deserve in the state of world affairs today.  For talking about theses issues, Ahmedinejad is considered a complete nutjob.  Is he?  Is he really being that extreme?  Why not read some of his speech and make your own assessment instead of writing off valid questions.

Some say the Iranian President was just making a political move, trying to end any possibility of forming positive relations with President Obama to squeeze out his more moderate political opposition.  Perhaps.  But motives and passions aside, these are issues that need to be talked about.  Navi Pillay would have been more than happy to have any other world leader speak at Durban II, or even a high-ranking official from any western nation.  They could have overshadowed Tehran’s words if they wanted to.  So what really is the reason for avoiding a discussion we need to face if we as the human race are ever going to evolve?  There is hate in this world, and the only way we are going to squash it, is to face it.  Everyone knew what was going to happen at Durban II, because it happened at Durban I.  So instead of complaining about it, send it in a positive direction.