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Includes a section on UN assessments for member states. · UN Watch - non-profit organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the UN. More... Magazine Articles · When dogs don’t bark - The Economist (Aug 31, 2001) · A Visit to Waste-Dumping Sites Shows UN Conference to Be Ignoring Environmental Racism - Village Voice (Aug 29, 2001) · Young Activists Unite - The Nation (Aug 17, 2001) More... Audio · UN Conference on Racism under way - CBC (Aug 31, 2001) · Manley backs out of UN racism conference - CBC (Aug 30, 2001) · Sec. Powell Stays Away from UN Racism Conference - NPR (Aug 29, 2001) More... Video · UN opens World Conference on Racism - CBC (Aug 31, 2001) · Disputes at U.N. racism conference - CNN (Aug 31, 2001) · "Recriminations between Israelis and Muslims have come to the fore" - BBC (Aug 31, 2001) News Sources · Yahoo! News Search · Yahoo!/AFP News Search · United Nations News Centre · BBC: UN Millennium Summit · PANA: Millennium Summit Yahoo! Categories · United Nations · UN Programs · Missions To The UN More... Sunday September 2 7:11 AM ET U.N. Talks Resume After NGOs Blast Israel Photos Reuters Photo Slideshows AP Photo United Nation's Conference Against Racism By Steven Swindells DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Israel was branded a ''racist apartheid'' state early on Sunday by thousands of non-governmental organizations meeting in South Africa. The harsh anti-Israeli language in the NGO Forum's final declaration injected new Middle East tension into the parallel U.N. World Conference Against Racism attended by 153 governments in the Indian Ocean port of Durban. The official conference entered its third day, still sharply divided over attempts to single out Israel as a ''racist'' state and the issue of reparations for four centuries of slavery. Worsening Israeli-Palestinian violence has cast a shadow over the racism meeting despite pleas by Nelson Mandela, the father of South Africa's multi-racial democracy, to seize the chance to end the contagion of racial discrimination. The NGO Forum accused the Jewish state of ``systematic perpetration of racist crimes including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing.'' It called Israel ``a racist apartheid state in which Israel's brand of apartheid as a crime against humanity has been characterized by separation and segregation...and inhumane acts.'' The declaration, adopted by 3,000 NGOs in 44 regional and interest-based caucuses, shocked Jewish groups. Jewish delegates walked out in protest. DEEP U.S. UNEASE The United States expressed deep unease, particularly about the removal of clauses opposing anti-Semitism. ``We are extremely unhappy about it,'' a U.S. official in Durban told Reuters. Israel's legal adviser to the governmental conference, Alan Baker, said: ``They have only succeeded in turning the conference into a circus for Israeli bashing...it's inciting hatred.'' Palestinian representatives said the declaration had highlighted society's disgust over Israeli attacks on civilians. ``It was a very successful human rights conference...It broke the silence of conspiracy of governments,'' said Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza and a member of the official delegation. Hours after the declaration was adopted, New York-based Human Rights Watch, also at the conference, distanced itself from the NGO stance because of the harsh language about Israel. Photos Reuters Photo ``Israel has committed serious crimes against Palestinian people but it is simply not accurate to use the term genocide and to equate Zionism with racism...it is now a matter of damage control,'' Reed Brody, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. Amnesty International also said it had reservations. ``We are not ready to make the assertion that Israel is engaged in genocide,'' Amnesty spokesman Claudio Cordone said. NGO INFLUENCE ON U.N. MEETINGS Resolutions at NGO Forums have no binding authority but they increasingly influence the final declarations adopted at the U.N. governmental meetings they precede. The United States, Canada and Israel sent only junior-level delegations to the U.N. conference in protest at what they see as anti-Israeli bias. Some 6,000 delegates are attending. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, one of only a handful of top Western government officials in Durban, left South Africa on Sunday. Washington had already warned it might withdraw before the conference closes on September 7 unless offending language is removed from draft texts. The NGO Forum's declaration further reduced the prospects for agreement at the U.N. meeting. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) warned delegates to the main meeting on Saturday that disputes about the Middle East and controversy over how to handle the historical issue of slavery threatened the conference. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), among the conference's most prominent figures, branded Israel as racist on Saturday. He was referring to the 11-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in which at least 548 Palestinians and 157 Israelis have been killed. Mandela made an impassioned call for delegates to put aside differences and act to rid the world of racism, a disease that was an ``ailment of the mind and the soul.'' Reparations for centuries of slavery also remained a stumbling block. African and Caribbean states want a formal apology and some countries are pressing for reparations for the millions of Africans torn from their homelands during the 400 years in which the trade flourished. Email this story - View most popular | Printer-friendly format Earlier Stories U.N. Racism Talks to Resume; NGOs Blast Israel (September 2) U.N. Racism Talks Resume After NGOs Condemn Israel (September 1) U.N. Race Meet Racked by Mideast, Slavery (September 1) U.N. Race Conference Racked by Middle East Tension (September 1) Mandela Urges Fight Against Racist 'Contagion' (September 1) Mandela Calls for Action on Racism 'Contagion' (September 1) Archived Stories by Date: Sep 01 Aug 31 Aug 30 Aug 29 Aug 28 Aug 27 Aug 26 Aug 25 Aug 24 Aug 23 Aug 22 Aug 21 Aug 20 Aug 19 Aug 18 Aug 17 Aug 16 Aug 15 Aug 14 Aug 13 Aug 12 Aug 11 Aug 10 Aug 09 Aug 08 Aug 07 Aug 06 Aug 05 Aug 04 Aug 03 News Resources Message Boards: Post/Read Msgs (5065 msg Sep 2, 7:21 AM ET) Conversations: Start a live discussion News Alerts: united nations | Kofi Annan | Yasser Arafat More Alerts: News Bulletins, News, Mobile, Stocks ADVERTISEMENT Weekly Specials · Free Ericsson Phone with Cool Accessories! · Get 50% Off Delivery of The New York Times! · Get the credit you deserve with a Getsmart Visa! · FREE credit report & trial membership! · Find mortgage rates now at Getsmart! 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