UN Racism Conference Starts Today–Ahmadinejad Accuses Israel of Genocide

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Well, it's not as if the United Nations Durban II conference against racism was ever going to avoid controversy. The primary storyline going into the conference was the contentious--if not by any means surprising--abstention by the United States and Israel (as well as Canada, Italy, Germany, Australia, and Holland).  But news has just come out about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech earlier today that we must post first. JTA has the scoop on the speech, which occurred a few hours ago, in which European diplomats walked out in protest: In a speech at the U.N.-sponsored anti-racism conference in Geneva, the Iranian president first blamed the West for injustice, then went on the offensive against Israel, calling it the “racist perpetrators of genocide.” “Under the pretext of Jewish suffering, they have helped bring to power the most oppressive, racist regime in Palestine,”...

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Can Israel Kidnap Ahmadinejad??

Interesting news out of Israel yesterday, where Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan said Israel could kidnap Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and bring him to court. Eitan, a former Mossad agent who helped track Adolf Eichmann, said: The era of hunting down old Nazis is over, but that's not to say that such operations are completely a thing of the past, and it could very well be that a leader such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suddenly finds himself before the International Criminal Court in The Hague... Those who spread poison and want to eradicate another people has to expect such consequences. Iran reacted immediately, writing a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: These dangerous threats of resorting to criminal acts against the officials of a sovereign country, or threatening to use force against a member...

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