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MY EXPERIENCE IN THE PRE-"DURBAN II" CONFERENCE IN GENEVA
MidEastYouth.com
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2009/04/20/my-experie nce-in-the-pre-durban-ii-conference-in-geneva/
Apr il 20 2009
I was invited to be a panelist for The Geneva Summit for Human Rights,
and was specifically interested in hearing the outstanding stories from
Burma, Rwanda, Iran, Cuba, Darfur amongst others. I still consider it
to be a great opportunity that I made it here as a speaker at in this
Summit, whose intentions have just been questioned by Parvez Sharma,
director of "Jihad for Love," also a fellow panelist here.
Prior to arriving at the Summit, I was actually aware of the bias,
but didn't realize how grave it was until certain "experts" began
talking consistently about anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, with
rarely a mention of anything else! I mean, we got people from Rwanda,
Burma, Darfur, amongst many others and we end up primarily talking
about Israel. What's going on? I can understand the concern, but not
the obsession.
I tweeted, Facebooked, and spoke with many friends about UN Watch's
big role in this Summit. I said this:
Not a fan of UN Watch, any organization that equates criticism of
Israel with anti-Semitism makes me ill.
That's precisely what UN Watch does. Such organizations successfully
muzzled mainstream news and is quickly turning to the UN after its
condemnation of consistent Israeli aggression claiming the UN has
a bias against Israel and is therefore anti-Semitic. This is of
course, a known strategy and is completely false. If anything, the
UN is not harsh enough for what Israel has done, and what we have all
witnessed. Many Israelis and Jews will tell you the same. Some of my
best friends are Israelis. They are absolutely terrified speaking
out for justice in Israel as some have even received death threats
from self-proclaimed "ardent Zionists," such as the former editor of
Jewschool who unfortunately folded after the mounting pressure.
You can't claim these Israelis and thousands of Jewish people worldwide
are anti-Semites. They are simply concerned for human rights and do
not value their lives more than they value their neighbors'.
On a relevant note, I also tweeted:
So tired of Arab/Muslim/Iranian bad news being used by others to
welcome racism and pity. Thinking of a campaign against this.
Listen, make no mistake, our criticism of Arab governments and
Iran are totally legitimate and justified, and we never fall for
any scapegoats. Any violation of a human rights we see, we target
and act upon immediately. Iran houses a brutal regime committing
horrible atrocities that we are actively highlighting. The Iranian
regime was attacked NOT for oppressing their people in this Summit;
despite these crimes being mentioned, that was barely the focus. They
were attacked for threatening to "destroy Israel," that was the
premise of every criticism against Iran, even though Israel also
threatened to nuke it! "Oh, but that was in retaliation." It's no
different. Both governments are equally dangerous with an absolute
disregard for human rights. Israel having a liberal "lifestyle"
doesn't change its corrupt politics that is threatening many of us,
just like Iran is threatening us by funding militant organizations
and violently oppressing anyone opposing it.
We are known here first and foremost for not shying away from
criticizing ourselves. In my panel I also made a comment that
"every single country in the Middle East is censorship-ridden,"
including Israel, where Israelis who criticize their government
find themselves in an extremely uncomfortable spot, as "traitors,
terrorists, anti-Zionists, self-hating spies."
Most of my talks are directed to very diverse audiences with an
emphasis on the strategy we use for our causes. We raise a great deal
of awareness and membership through these things, and as such I accept
any speaking engagement where I bring awareness to MideastYouth.com
to as many people as possible, even critics. However using our work
to empower a political ideology is out of the question, regardless
of what the ideology is, and I'm sorry to say that this is what some
of the panelists were being used for. I witnessed so much anger,
emphasis on anti-Semitism that I was very disturbed even by the usage
of the word "Holocaust" that is attached to one tragic incident,
with a disregard for the many others throughout history.
During lunch break, some volunteers passed out brochures on another
discussion that will take place tomorrow on "Racism, genocide,
and Holocaust denial," notice the wording. My friend turned to me
and asked, "what determines what a Holocaust is?" and we looked it
up. Not to our surprise, amongst the definitions was:
Any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.
So the Kurds, Bengalis, Rwandans, Darfurians amongst others all have
suffered through Holocausts in their actual lifetime. Not to mention
the Armenian genocide which many deny without issue or legal concern.
Out of frustration I Facebooked it this morning as a status comment:
Obviously what happened was a real tragedy that deserves to be
remembered, but it is the only one that is! There are literally
thousands of films and books about it, memorial days, sites, but
there can't be a real term that is applied for one tragedy and not the
others. In Bangladesh millions died too, and is 26 years more recent.
"Holocaust denial" is punishable by imprisonment in many countries,
and subject to severe criticism and hatred in the mainstream, but
denying the others is valid as they were merely "civil wars," and
"victims didn't suffer for centuries." Despite the fact that most
did, and to this day, most ethnic minorities under threat have no
State. Most continue to face violent oppression with no protection
or acknowledgment whatsoever. Denying THEIR holocausts is frankly
way more dangerous and in some ways, even more important to tackle.
In this Summit, did anyone even mention the Kurds, who have
suffered through genocide less than two decades ago and continue
to face aggressive oppression with no state or government to their
rescue. Darfur was a note in passing. Aside from the amazing panelist
himself, Bo Kyi, no one even spoke about Burma, or the Muslim Rohingya
people who suffer massive discrimination there. Despite all of these
massive crimes that all of us have a responsibility to tackle as
decent human beings, the emphasis was on anti-Semitism and "THE"
Holocaust denial, hardly as dangerous as the other issues facing us
today - ask some Israelis within Israel themselves! I challenge you
that some will second this without hesitation.
Freedom of speech, a passion of mine, was a big subject. I focus on
free speech in the entire Middle East including in Israel by allowing
many to use this very platform to express themselves freely. But in
reality free speech doesn't really exist everywhere and certainly not
even in the USA. Every country has people either abusing this right
or denying it to others.
For example, did you know that I was banned entry to a high school
in Texas in February during my speaking tour, simply because of my
criticism of Israel during the Gaza attacks? I rarely ever mention
Israel/Palestine because I feel that too many people already do so,
millions of people, and hardly anyone was focusing on the other human
rights violations occurring around us and in our name. That doesn't
mean I don't care however or that I don't make an effort to give
Gazans specifically a platform when they didn't have electricity to
write about what was going on. I published a podcast that was also
featured on CNN and the BBC which caused offense to many.
In my rejection to the high school, I got some hateful comments,
some questioning whether or not I was a "terrorist." Despite some
reports about Israel, we at MEY also provide first hand accounts from
Israelis themselves, no one can argue MEY is biased. We give everyone
a voice, there are even soldiers in this platform. We have no official
political opinion or affiliation and we are proud of that. We have
Israelis in the team and we accept them in all their forms. No one
can rightfully claim we are anti-Semites, but unless you're a staunch
Israeli nationalist that's the term people will abuse you with. At
the Summit we saw this happening right in front of us.
I don't regret coming entirely as I met amazing people from Darfur
who were the highlight of my experience there, as well as an amazing
young man from Belarus who was my co-panelist in a panel about new
media strategies for social change. But otherwise, like I said even
before attending here, the bias is clear. You can't use us to empower
political ideologies that I personally consider to be inaccurate and
corrupt. Next time, if the topic of obsession will be about Israel,
invite a single Palestinian to at least provide an account of what the
Israeli government puts them through. Invite a human rights activist
from Israel who helps build houses for Palestinians in order to
let THEM explain what is anti-Semitism, and what isn't, because UN
Watch, and much of the people in the Summit, are confused! Help them
identify it.
Either way, some of the bravest and best panelists were here, and
these are:
Ahmad Ibrahim Ditraige: Former governor of Darfur Ester Murawajo:
Tutsi survivor of the genocide (and holocaust) in Rwanda, founder of
AVEGA Dominique Sopo: President of SOS Racisme Ahmad Batebi: Iranian
dissident, former prisoner of conscience Bo Kyi: Burmese dissident,
former prisoner of conscience Saad Eddin Ibrahim: Egyptian dissident,
former prisoner of conscience Marlon Zakeyo: Zimbabwe Human Rights
Activist Dr. Ashraf El Hagog: Victim of Libyan torture Parvez Sharma:
Producer of the documentary film "Jihad for Love" Pavel Marozau:
Belorussian cyber-dissident and human rights defender (also my
fantastic co-panelist) Kristiyna Valcheva: Bulgarian nurse, victim of
Libyan torture and discrimination These are sincere and brave fighters
for human rights or victims of genocide or oppression. Therefore I am
proud to have met them, but next time, I hope we meet where absolutely
everyone is represented and where there is no bias towards excessively
"anti-Semite" discussions implying that Israel is the biggest victim
of oppression when with no doubt it's the safest and most funded
country in the Middle East.
If anyone should be scared of Iran, trust me, its the Arab neighboring
countries first, including my home country Bahrain, (FYI we're not
anti-Semites, this is home to the first Jewish ambassador to serve an
Arab country, and Jewish MPs.) Hopefully soon everywhere we'll have
Kurdish and Baha'i ones too, representatives of the most persecuted
minorities in the region. Iran is funding militant operations here and
have threatened to reclaim our land, yet we didn't threaten to nuke
it. Of course, there is no room for discussing that, much of the room
was too busy obsessing about a threat that frankly doesn't even exist.
So that was my experience; my next post will include a run-through
of what I actually talked about in terms of using new media for
social change.
This post is my opinion on the Summit as a speaker and participant
and not the stance of MEY, where we grant everyone a voice.
MidEastYouth.com
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2009/04/20/my-experie nce-in-the-pre-durban-ii-conference-in-geneva/
Apr il 20 2009
I was invited to be a panelist for The Geneva Summit for Human Rights,
and was specifically interested in hearing the outstanding stories from
Burma, Rwanda, Iran, Cuba, Darfur amongst others. I still consider it
to be a great opportunity that I made it here as a speaker at in this
Summit, whose intentions have just been questioned by Parvez Sharma,
director of "Jihad for Love," also a fellow panelist here.
Prior to arriving at the Summit, I was actually aware of the bias,
but didn't realize how grave it was until certain "experts" began
talking consistently about anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, with
rarely a mention of anything else! I mean, we got people from Rwanda,
Burma, Darfur, amongst many others and we end up primarily talking
about Israel. What's going on? I can understand the concern, but not
the obsession.
I tweeted, Facebooked, and spoke with many friends about UN Watch's
big role in this Summit. I said this:
Not a fan of UN Watch, any organization that equates criticism of
Israel with anti-Semitism makes me ill.
That's precisely what UN Watch does. Such organizations successfully
muzzled mainstream news and is quickly turning to the UN after its
condemnation of consistent Israeli aggression claiming the UN has
a bias against Israel and is therefore anti-Semitic. This is of
course, a known strategy and is completely false. If anything, the
UN is not harsh enough for what Israel has done, and what we have all
witnessed. Many Israelis and Jews will tell you the same. Some of my
best friends are Israelis. They are absolutely terrified speaking
out for justice in Israel as some have even received death threats
from self-proclaimed "ardent Zionists," such as the former editor of
Jewschool who unfortunately folded after the mounting pressure.
You can't claim these Israelis and thousands of Jewish people worldwide
are anti-Semites. They are simply concerned for human rights and do
not value their lives more than they value their neighbors'.
On a relevant note, I also tweeted:
So tired of Arab/Muslim/Iranian bad news being used by others to
welcome racism and pity. Thinking of a campaign against this.
Listen, make no mistake, our criticism of Arab governments and
Iran are totally legitimate and justified, and we never fall for
any scapegoats. Any violation of a human rights we see, we target
and act upon immediately. Iran houses a brutal regime committing
horrible atrocities that we are actively highlighting. The Iranian
regime was attacked NOT for oppressing their people in this Summit;
despite these crimes being mentioned, that was barely the focus. They
were attacked for threatening to "destroy Israel," that was the
premise of every criticism against Iran, even though Israel also
threatened to nuke it! "Oh, but that was in retaliation." It's no
different. Both governments are equally dangerous with an absolute
disregard for human rights. Israel having a liberal "lifestyle"
doesn't change its corrupt politics that is threatening many of us,
just like Iran is threatening us by funding militant organizations
and violently oppressing anyone opposing it.
We are known here first and foremost for not shying away from
criticizing ourselves. In my panel I also made a comment that
"every single country in the Middle East is censorship-ridden,"
including Israel, where Israelis who criticize their government
find themselves in an extremely uncomfortable spot, as "traitors,
terrorists, anti-Zionists, self-hating spies."
Most of my talks are directed to very diverse audiences with an
emphasis on the strategy we use for our causes. We raise a great deal
of awareness and membership through these things, and as such I accept
any speaking engagement where I bring awareness to MideastYouth.com
to as many people as possible, even critics. However using our work
to empower a political ideology is out of the question, regardless
of what the ideology is, and I'm sorry to say that this is what some
of the panelists were being used for. I witnessed so much anger,
emphasis on anti-Semitism that I was very disturbed even by the usage
of the word "Holocaust" that is attached to one tragic incident,
with a disregard for the many others throughout history.
During lunch break, some volunteers passed out brochures on another
discussion that will take place tomorrow on "Racism, genocide,
and Holocaust denial," notice the wording. My friend turned to me
and asked, "what determines what a Holocaust is?" and we looked it
up. Not to our surprise, amongst the definitions was:
Any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.
So the Kurds, Bengalis, Rwandans, Darfurians amongst others all have
suffered through Holocausts in their actual lifetime. Not to mention
the Armenian genocide which many deny without issue or legal concern.
Out of frustration I Facebooked it this morning as a status comment:
Obviously what happened was a real tragedy that deserves to be
remembered, but it is the only one that is! There are literally
thousands of films and books about it, memorial days, sites, but
there can't be a real term that is applied for one tragedy and not the
others. In Bangladesh millions died too, and is 26 years more recent.
"Holocaust denial" is punishable by imprisonment in many countries,
and subject to severe criticism and hatred in the mainstream, but
denying the others is valid as they were merely "civil wars," and
"victims didn't suffer for centuries." Despite the fact that most
did, and to this day, most ethnic minorities under threat have no
State. Most continue to face violent oppression with no protection
or acknowledgment whatsoever. Denying THEIR holocausts is frankly
way more dangerous and in some ways, even more important to tackle.
In this Summit, did anyone even mention the Kurds, who have
suffered through genocide less than two decades ago and continue
to face aggressive oppression with no state or government to their
rescue. Darfur was a note in passing. Aside from the amazing panelist
himself, Bo Kyi, no one even spoke about Burma, or the Muslim Rohingya
people who suffer massive discrimination there. Despite all of these
massive crimes that all of us have a responsibility to tackle as
decent human beings, the emphasis was on anti-Semitism and "THE"
Holocaust denial, hardly as dangerous as the other issues facing us
today - ask some Israelis within Israel themselves! I challenge you
that some will second this without hesitation.
Freedom of speech, a passion of mine, was a big subject. I focus on
free speech in the entire Middle East including in Israel by allowing
many to use this very platform to express themselves freely. But in
reality free speech doesn't really exist everywhere and certainly not
even in the USA. Every country has people either abusing this right
or denying it to others.
For example, did you know that I was banned entry to a high school
in Texas in February during my speaking tour, simply because of my
criticism of Israel during the Gaza attacks? I rarely ever mention
Israel/Palestine because I feel that too many people already do so,
millions of people, and hardly anyone was focusing on the other human
rights violations occurring around us and in our name. That doesn't
mean I don't care however or that I don't make an effort to give
Gazans specifically a platform when they didn't have electricity to
write about what was going on. I published a podcast that was also
featured on CNN and the BBC which caused offense to many.
In my rejection to the high school, I got some hateful comments,
some questioning whether or not I was a "terrorist." Despite some
reports about Israel, we at MEY also provide first hand accounts from
Israelis themselves, no one can argue MEY is biased. We give everyone
a voice, there are even soldiers in this platform. We have no official
political opinion or affiliation and we are proud of that. We have
Israelis in the team and we accept them in all their forms. No one
can rightfully claim we are anti-Semites, but unless you're a staunch
Israeli nationalist that's the term people will abuse you with. At
the Summit we saw this happening right in front of us.
I don't regret coming entirely as I met amazing people from Darfur
who were the highlight of my experience there, as well as an amazing
young man from Belarus who was my co-panelist in a panel about new
media strategies for social change. But otherwise, like I said even
before attending here, the bias is clear. You can't use us to empower
political ideologies that I personally consider to be inaccurate and
corrupt. Next time, if the topic of obsession will be about Israel,
invite a single Palestinian to at least provide an account of what the
Israeli government puts them through. Invite a human rights activist
from Israel who helps build houses for Palestinians in order to
let THEM explain what is anti-Semitism, and what isn't, because UN
Watch, and much of the people in the Summit, are confused! Help them
identify it.
Either way, some of the bravest and best panelists were here, and
these are:
Ahmad Ibrahim Ditraige: Former governor of Darfur Ester Murawajo:
Tutsi survivor of the genocide (and holocaust) in Rwanda, founder of
AVEGA Dominique Sopo: President of SOS Racisme Ahmad Batebi: Iranian
dissident, former prisoner of conscience Bo Kyi: Burmese dissident,
former prisoner of conscience Saad Eddin Ibrahim: Egyptian dissident,
former prisoner of conscience Marlon Zakeyo: Zimbabwe Human Rights
Activist Dr. Ashraf El Hagog: Victim of Libyan torture Parvez Sharma:
Producer of the documentary film "Jihad for Love" Pavel Marozau:
Belorussian cyber-dissident and human rights defender (also my
fantastic co-panelist) Kristiyna Valcheva: Bulgarian nurse, victim of
Libyan torture and discrimination These are sincere and brave fighters
for human rights or victims of genocide or oppression. Therefore I am
proud to have met them, but next time, I hope we meet where absolutely
everyone is represented and where there is no bias towards excessively
"anti-Semite" discussions implying that Israel is the biggest victim
of oppression when with no doubt it's the safest and most funded
country in the Middle East.
If anyone should be scared of Iran, trust me, its the Arab neighboring
countries first, including my home country Bahrain, (FYI we're not
anti-Semites, this is home to the first Jewish ambassador to serve an
Arab country, and Jewish MPs.) Hopefully soon everywhere we'll have
Kurdish and Baha'i ones too, representatives of the most persecuted
minorities in the region. Iran is funding militant operations here and
have threatened to reclaim our land, yet we didn't threaten to nuke
it. Of course, there is no room for discussing that, much of the room
was too busy obsessing about a threat that frankly doesn't even exist.
So that was my experience; my next post will include a run-through
of what I actually talked about in terms of using new media for
social change.
This post is my opinion on the Summit as a speaker and participant
and not the stance of MEY, where we grant everyone a voice.