Dispatches from Durban II

[Viking]

For the West and allies of actual human rights and freedom to prevail it needs to be engaged in this sort of stuff fully, calling people on their shit and arguing convincingly for what is right.

Do you think the Norwegian convinced anyone?

Maybe, maybe not, but he convinced me he found his balls at long last... he might make a good PM, and more frightenenly a solid leader of the Labour Party...

[Hansmeister]

Get the UN out of the US and the US out of the UN.  It's time to deepsix that utterly despicable organization.

[Admiral Yi]

Heard the milquetoast (Korean) SecGen criticizing A-bad's speech on the radio.  Kinda surprised me.

[Ancient Demon]

Ancient Demon, what was your name on the old forum?

It says in my signature (Zagys). 

[Ancient Demon]

Get the UN out of the US and the US out of the UN.  It's time to deepsix that utterly despicable organization.

Or perhaps the US just needs to learn how to manipulate the UN better.

[Sheilbh]

Personally I think it's more about taking an arena away from them where they can spout their nonsense.  I doubt anybody will directly be convinced.

Indeed.

Ahmedinejad's day got worse at the press conference:

Durban II Dispatch: Following Ahmedinejad

After Ahemedinejad finished his speech, he immediately went downstairs to give a press conference. But waiting for him in front of the press conference room, blocking the doors, were hundreds of protesters chanting "Shame! Shame! Shame!" and holding signs like "Respect Bahais and Minorities" and "Iran Funds Hamas and Hezbollah." Standing amidst the protesters were Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel and Iranian dissident (famously pictured on the cover of TIME) Ahmad Batebi.

By the time I pushed my way through the crowd, I had missed most of the press conference. Most of the questions I heard came from what we call "single-issue journalists," like reporters from Albania and Ecuador, who asked questions specifically relating to their home countries. (I'll spare you the transcript.) I did get to hear two interesting questions. One reporter asked why Ahmedinejad was so quick to condemn Israeli violence, but never condemns violence perpetrated on Muslims by Muslims. (The reporter referenced some recent attack that I did not catch.) Predictably, he said that "all the problems and conflicts in the Muslim world are a result of Western interference."

Another journalist asked if the row over Durban would affect the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. He repeated his usual response about Iran's rights to operate a peaceful nuclear program, the US not treating Iran with respect as a sovereign country, and the West wanting a monopoly on nuclear power. Then he went on a surprising rift about the environmental benefits of nuclear power, and that if we want to combat global warming, Iran must be allowed to have a nuclear program. He must be getting desperate.

--Zvika Krieger

This is a good thing.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Get the UN out of the US and the US out of the UN.  It's time to deepsix that utterly despicable organization.

Or perhaps the US just needs to learn how to manipulate the UN better.

It's Hans...

[Norgy]

The conference puzzles me.
But it's at least refreshing to see a Norwegian do what we do best - point out the flaws in other people.

[clandestino]

Sheilbh, this new story made both covers of our more serious/respected daily journals, so at least here you can say that it made some impact.

The titles were along the lines of "Alm-j crashes UN racism conference".

Checking their online pages, Diário de Notícias says that he has "poisoned" the conference, whilePúblico says that its speach has made the conference sink.

[DontSayBanana]

@Jacob: I think we may have done the right thing by distancing ourselves from the Durban conference. The feeling seems to be not that Iran's case has been helped, but that in "showcasing their support for human rights" by allowing an egregious human rights violator to rant in a venue hosted by an egregious human rights violator, the UN has hurt their case. Public relations fail.

[Siege]

Get the UN out of the US and the US out of the UN.  It's time to deepsix that utterly despicable organization.

Word.