August 29, 2001, Durban — The anti-Israel rhetoric that threatens to undermine the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, which officially begins on Friday, has already surfaced in various meetings and forums being held here in the run-up to the formal conference. Speakers and panel moderators at the opening of the Non-Governmental (NGO) Forum issued strongly worded anti-Israel accusations and compared the Israeli treatment of Palestinians to apartheid in South Africa.

The rhetoric made clear that the plight of the Palestinians was a defining theme of the early stages of the conference.  A t-shirt emblazoned with the words "Occupation= Colonialism=Racism, End Israeli Apartheid" is one of the most popular shirts seen at the NGO Forum.

In her opening remarks, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson noted that the conference would deal with "particular victims of racism," putting Palestinians at the head of her list.  As Mrs. Robinson was led from the stage, the audience joined in singing refrains of the Bob Marley reggae hit “One Love, one heart, let’s get together and feel alright,” as an enormous banner passed over the crowd saying “President George W. Bush, Palestinian blood is on your hands.”

Equating Israel with apartheid in South Africa was the focus of series of "thematic commissions" - presentations on issue areas followed by drafting sessions of the NGO Declaration. A session on Hate Crime and Hate Groups, Ethnic Cleansing/ conflict/genocide featured victims from Sudan, India and the Palestinian Authority.  Another session devoted to "Palestinians - New Forms of Apartheid" featured Israeli-Arab Knesset member Azmi Bishara, who railed against Israel’s "apartheid" policy.

Pro-Palestinian activists disrupted the only panel on the four-day program to deal with anti-Semitism. Arab activists spread out to join each subgroup of the drafting session arguing that the Holocaust be equated with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and that anti-Semitism be defined as "anti-Arab sentiment" since Arabs are Semites.

In a speech delivered through an emissary, Palestinian spokesperson Hannan Ashrawi accused Israel of "demographic engineering to maintain purity of Israeli society."