[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens urge Obama to reverse decision to shun Durban III antiracism conference

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, June 8, 2011



Greens urge Obama to reverse decision to shun the third World Conference
against Racism

• US Greens will attend the conference


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders urged President Obama to reverse his
decision to withdraw from participation in the third World Conference against
Racism ("Durban III").

The conference, sponsored by the United Nations, will take place in New York
City on September 22, 2011, marking the tenth anniversary of the first World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related
Intolerance in 2001, which was held in Durban, South Africa.  The Obama
Administration has cited widespread anger against Israel and the US at past
conferences, perceived to be antisemitic and anti-American, as the reason for
the withdrawal.

"2011 is both the International Year of Afrodescendants and the 150th
anniversary of the beginning of the US Civil War.  As such, it is vitally
important the United States of America have an official presence at Durban
III, to join an open discussion with the rest of the world on racism and how
to end it; racism here in the USA, as well as in other countries," said Marian
Douglas-Ungaro, co-chair of the Green Party's International Committee
(http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/) and a member of the Green Party Black
Caucus (http://www.gp.org/caucuses/black/index.php).

"Any statement expressing religious or ethnic intolerance or incitement to
hatred against the Jewish people deserves swift condemnation. But the U.S. and
other western countries have often interpreted legitimate criticism of the
state of Israel, which has maintained its brutal and illegal occupation of
Palestinian lands and internal apartheid, as 'antisemitic'.  They've used this
thinly-veiled excuse to withdraw from the Durban conferences to avoid
situations where certain rights-violating policies would face scrutiny and
criticism on the world stage," said Muhammed Malik, Co-Chair of the Miami-Dade
Green Party (http://miamidadegreenparty.org/) and former Racial Justice and
Voting Rights Projects Associate at the ACLU Florida.  Mr. Malik recently
spoke about racial justice as a panelist on the opening plenary of the Rights
Working Group's Southeastern Regional Conference and is organizing a rally at
the Israeli Consulate in Miami in support of
  Palestinian rights and the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza (http://ustogaza.org).

Greens said that the White House has avoided the Durban conferences also
because of the failure of the US to address internal racial inequality,
including continuing economic disparities and disadvantages suffered by people
of color (such as the disproportionate loss of black families' homes during
the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis), the unaddressed call for reparations
for the descendants of slavery, harassment and deportation of undocumented
immigrants, the targeting of people of color in the War on Drugs, and record
incarceration rates, with black, brown, poor, and young people locked up to
feed the for-profit private prison industry.

Referring to Attorney General Eric Holder's recent announcement that he will
authorize the release of 5,500 federal prisoners to begin correcting
sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine offenders, Green Party
co-chair Theresa El-Amin said, "In this International Year of People of
African Descent it's beyond disappointing that the Obama Administration lifts
a release of [only] 5,500 for nonviolent drug offenses when there are 2.4
million incarcerated in the United States.  The fact that the majority of the
2.4 million are people of color makes the 5,500 release a non-event. The US is
number one in the whole world in incarceration rates.  China, which is four
times more populous than the US, is a distant second with 1.6 million people
in prison.  The US pulling out of the Durban process is simply unacceptable."

Ms. El-Amin, who plans to attend Durban III, was one of several human rights
activists who participated in a special White House conference call briefing
on Thursday, June 2.  During the briefing, White House official Samantha
Powers explained that the US delegation to the UN would withdraw from Durban
III and cited "Israel" when asked why, drawing several statements of
disappointment by other participants before the White House abruptly
terminated the call.

Greens, including 2008 Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney, have
participated in the first World Conference against Racism in 2001 and the
second meeting ("Durban Review Conference") in Geneva in 2009, both of which
the US shunned.  On August 8, 2001, the Green Party issued a strongly worded
resolution on the withdrawal (http://www.gp.org/press/pr_08_13_01.html).


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UN: One-day plenary event on the 10th anniversary of the World Conference
against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intorelance
http://www.un.org/events/calendar/Edetail.asp?EventID=1976&BeginDate=9/22/2011

2001 World Conference against Racism (UN site)
http://www.un.org/WCAR/

US Human Rights Network
http://www.ushrnetwork.org

'GreenStream Wednesday': News and discussion on the Green Party's Livestream
channel
http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the
United States (Fall 2010 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog


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