OSCE Resolution Blocked, Arguing Wider "Xenophobia" Versus "Anti-Semitism"

June 13, 2005

Source: Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=586110

On June 13, 2005 Haaretz reported, "A conference on racism sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Cordoba, Spain failed to approve a joint declaration condemning 'racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia' yesterday after some delegates demanded that xenophobia appear before anti-Semitism in the resolution's text. Delegates from Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium demanded the change at the two-day conference, which opened yesterday. No agreement was reached yesterday, but a source close to the negotiations said the declaration would probably read in accordance with the demand of the delegates from the three countries. Before the conference opened, the delegates from the three countries had demanded that the agenda not be limited to anti-Semitism, as the Spanish hosts had originally intended. The three argued that Islamophobia and xenophobia were more serious problems in present-day Europe than anti-Semitism. Subsequently, it was agreed that the first day of the conference would deal with anti-Semitism and the second day with other aspects of racism."