By Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
August 29, 2001
Beginning Friday, August 31st, The World Conference Against Racism meets in Durban, South Africa, to discuss the notion of riding the world of racism. Before the conference begins, according to a report today from Reuters, racists attending the Conference are already attacking Jewish delegates at the Conference.
"I feel besieged, there's anti-Semitism and hate literature at the World Racism Conference. It couldn't get much worse," Anne Bayefsky, a professor from New York's Columbia Law School said."Some of the Jewish delegates are hiding their accreditation badge because it identifies them as from Israel or as Jewish. Some are considering leaving Durban altogether."
According to the United Nations organizers of this Conference, South Africa was chosen for the venue because it is supposedly a great example of what the conference hopes to achieve under the African National Congress and Nelson Mandela's leadership in the past 7 years of what they call "democratic" rule.
Yet, there IS no worse example of racism against minorities than that of South Africa. Blacks have been the majority in all nations of Africa, including South Africa, for thousands of years. When whites arrived on the continent, it was the black on black violence which enabled sea captains to sit in the harbor and let the locals make a buck or two by selling them their captives in the latest war, instead of killing them, which was the custom.
Have those ancient customs changed dramatically? Who is it that is still selling people into slavery in Africa? Mary Robinson, the UN High Commission for Human Rights said at a recent Youth Forum for the Conference:
"Mariama Oumarou is a 17-year old girl from Niger who was sold as a slave at the age of 15. But she escaped and will be telling her story in Durban as one of the Voices of Victims."
It wasn't white folks in Niger who sold Mariama into slavery.
Before the World Conference Against Racism begins there is a NGO Forum (http://www.racism.org.za/index.html) which is discussing the issues. Stefan, an NGO, noted about the South African Venue some statistics that perhaps might be of interest to those who which to emulate the so-called "success" of South Africa in the racism arena:
"JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South Africa's murder rate is almost 10 times higher than in the United States, according to the latest police statistics. The number of murders per 100,000 people is 55.3 in 1999, in contrast, the U.S. murder rate was 6 per 100,000 in 1998, the last full year for which statistics are available. The overall crime rate rose 4.7 percent in 1999 from 1998. The number of reported home robberies per 100,000 people rose to 663.4 in 1999 from 633.3 in 1998. The number of reported car-hijackings was unchanged in 1999 from 1998 at 35.9 per 100,000 people. The number of reported rapes stood at 119.1 per 100,000, up from 117 in 1998 . (South Africa now leads the world in RAPES) (Reuters)"
Another statistic that might interest those wishing to emulate South Africa's "success" under the new so-called "democratic" regime is what has happened to the exchange rate of South Africa's currency, the rand. Before sanctions were placed against the former white government in South Africa in 1987, supposedly to help the blacks oust the whites the rand was approximately equivalent to the American dollar. Four years later, the rand had dropped in value to about 73 cents.
Today, after seven years of ANC style "freedom", the rand is worth 8.4 cents. The South African economy in effect has lost 90% of its value under black rule.
One of the major reasons for that drop is the labor union, COSATU, which calls for frequent labor stoppages. In fact, it has called for a nationwide strike just in time to tie up the transportation system in the Conference city of Durban. Investors who were planning to start factories in "free" South Africa a decade ago, have pulled out of the country because they cannot rely on the work force ever completing a contract.
Also, in the past decade, AIDS has spread so rapidly that approximately 25% of South Africa's population has it. AIDS hits the working age population the hardest. Sick and dying workers also cannot be relied upon to finish a contract.
The Bush Administration, considering some of the language in the proposed document, has decided sending delegates is a waste of time and money. However, about 200 Jewish representatives are in Durban already and report they are (br>
"shocked by their treatment and felt unfairly singled out.
"'More than anything Jewish delegates are being hurt since we are being targeted and victimized when we come to a conference to talk about racism," Steve Durdett, of the Anti-Defamation League said."Pamphlets circulated at the non-governmental meeting caricatured Jews and posters carried slogans overlapping the Star of David with the Nazi Swastika.' - Reuters
The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance declares:
"the actions of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people as acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and environmental racism and call on the United Nations to impose punitive measures against Israel until it unconditionally withdraws from all the Palestinian Occupied Territories and agrees to work with the people of Palestine to restore their economy and social life that it consciously destroyed over a number of years." (From: NGO Forum Declaration Working Draft for Durban- http://www.racism.org.za/index.html)
It also calls for:
"that, the 1st of September be used as a day to mark a global struggle to combat all forms of apartheid suffered by the People of Palestine and other people of world."
Another section of the document states:
"in recognition of the exploits of the Indigenous Peoples, Africans and African Descendents in the liberation of themselves from slavery in the Caribbean, North America, Central America and South America to designate I August as International Emancipation Day, as an Initiative towards repairing the damage done as a result of slavery."
, Of course, that would be payment on top of the hundreds of thousands of white people who died or injured and millions of dollars spent from 1861-1865 to free the slaves, plus approximately $5 trillion American Taxpayers have already spent since 1964 to try to lift blacks in the inner cities.
Will more money repair the damage "done as a result of slavery?" It's not likely. Slavery has been an institution in Africa at least since the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites as reported in the book of Genesis.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com