OUR COMMUNITY
Remembering Durban A Jewish journalist looks back on the antisemitic hate fest.
Michael Belling
O
n Sept. 22, 2021, the United Nations is holding a one-day event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. This is a dubious comMike Smith memoration. The Alene and first Conference, Graham Landau Archivist Chair Durban I, infamously devolved into an antisemitic, anti-Israel hate fest. This is well-documented. For a firsthand account of the Conference, a few questions were posed to Michael Belling, a Jewish journalist from South Africa, who attended Durban I. Belling was a foreign corre-
spondent in Israel for a major South African newspaper group for several years. After his return to South Africa, he was the local correspondent for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (New York) and the Jewish Chronicle (London). Belling has written extensively on Middle Eastern and financial issues. He has appeared on TV and radio, and he has translated several books from Hebrew into English. Belling is also a novelist in his spare time. He lives in Pretoria. Q: Why were you reporting from Durban I in 2001? MB: I covered the “anti-racism” conference in Durban for the Jewish Chronicle (London). Q: What were your expectations of the Conference before you arrived there? MB: Not high at all. The preparatory conferences in several countries, including Iran, made it clear that, as is common in many organs of the United
Nations, Israel was going to be singled out disproportionately for opprobrium, but nothing prepared any of the Jewish delegates to the NGO conference or the governmental conference, or me, for that matter, for what occurred. The floodgates of overt and blatant Jew-hatred on the streets of Durban were opened in ways not encountered since the 1930s. Since 2001, antisemitism has been the only acceptable racism in large parts of the world, including the USA, France and Britain. The impact of Durban I did not end in that city. The BDS movement is a direct consequence, as is the widely held view that Zionism is, in fact, a dirty word. I am not going into any detail here, but ironically, all the activities at the Durban I conference gave the Soviet KGB a posthumous victory — it was the brains behind earlier disinformation campaigns, using the same techniques, that led directly to the notorious “Zionism is
Racism” resolution passed by the U.N. in 1975 (repealed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991). Q: The Conference is now known for its vehement promotion of antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments. What was your personal experience at the Conference? MB: The venue was the Durban Conference Centre, within easy walking distance of a major sports stadium and the site of the NGO stalls. Interestingly, the main Jewish venue in Durban, the Jewish Club, is also within walking distance, and it had to endure a few protests. The Club served as the center for meetings, discussions, consultations and strategizing for all the Jewish groups there — not to mention an endless source of food, snacks, tea and coffee! All of this created a strong sense of camaraderie among all of us. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was freely available at the NGO conference, as were sev-
A panel at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, 2001. U.N./RON DA SILVA
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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021
