UN Commemorates Hitler's Birthday in Geneva

It is highly ironic that the UN opens its Durban ll "conference against racism" on the occasion of Adolf Hitler's 120th birthday. Not withstanding its name, this conference is nothing more than an exercise in anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing being led by some of the most racist countries on earth (namely in the Middle East).

The conference is a repeat of Durban 1 held a few years back and which was noted for its singling out of Israel as a "racist" state. This year's event promises to be the same with the featured speaker none other than Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Fortunately, not only are Israel and the US boycotting the conference, but also Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Australia. Among European countries who are attending we find the UK and France. The latter should be ashamed.

Today, when Ahmadinejad referred to Israel as a "racist entity", dozens of EU delegates rose and walked out of the hall. That is well and good, but why were they there to begin with? Why did Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz personally meet with Ahmadinejad? Does not the state of Switzerland stand for anything other than being an international banking center?

In addition to the requisite Israel-bashing led by the Arab states, also on the agenda is a move to make it a crime to criticize a religion. Sounds great, but the only religion that is really concerned here is Islam.

What is really astounding is when you examine the countries that are at the forefront of this effort to demonize Israel while making it a violation of international law to "defame" Islam.

First, let's look at Iran, whose president is the featured speaker. This is the man who has denied the Holocaust and called for Israel to be wiped off the map. In Iran, members of the Ba'hai faith are routinely persecuted as part of a government policy. What do I mean by persecuted? I mean things like arrest, rape and killing. This is the country where women accused of adultery are buried up to their shoulders and stoned to death while the faithful shout, "Allahu Akbar!" This is the country that hangs homosexuals. This is the country that storms embassies, takes diplomats hostage and finances terror.

In Egypt, members of the Coptic Christian minority are subject to discrimination by the Muslim majority. As in other Middle Eastern countries, mainstream newspapers and magazines publish anti-Semitic rants and cartoons reminiscent of Julius Streicher's Der Stuermer, the old Nazi anti-Semitic newspaper popular in the Third Reich. In the Middle East, People still write about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as if it were fact. Mein Kampf is still a best seller in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to openly practice any religion other than Islam. Under Islamic law, the penalty for apostasy is death.

Then there is Sudan, a country that has recently chaired the UN Human Rights Council, but has perpetrated the genocide in Darfur.

These are the countries that are sitting in judgement of Israel and complaining about defamation of religion (their own).

What does it say about the Western nations that are attending this travesty? Of course, they will tell you that only by attending can they lend a moderating voice to the madness. That is a cop-out. What they are doing is giving legitimacy to this disgraceful gathering. The UK and France are there because they are afraid of upsetting their Muslim minorities, who are liable to riot in the streets-or worse. Special mention and praise has to go to Germany, a nation with its unique history, that makes it a point to stand up for decency.

The larger issue is what this says about the UN, a corrupt and inefficient organization that is been taken over by the Middle Eastern states. At the UN, anti-Semitism reigns supreme, terrorism is swept under the rug, and the US is used as both a whipping-boy and cash cow. The time has long passed for the decent nations of the world-the democracies-to walk away from the UN and establish a new international organization that stands for something decent.