IRISH DIPLOMATS were among those to stage a walkout at a UN conference on racism in Geneva yesterday, in protest at a speech made by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during which he denounced Israel as “the most cruel and racist regime”.
Daithí Ó Ceallaigh, Ireland’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and three other Irish officials, left the conference chamber along with other EU delegates after Mr Ahmadinejad “crossed the line” in his tirade against Israel, according to diplomatic sources.
Several protesters, some wearing multi-coloured wigs and red clown noses, had been removed by security guards after they shouted “Shame! Shame!” and “Racist! Racist!” as the Iranian president prepared to give his address. Mr Ahmadinejad, in a rambling speech which was applauded by some delegates, railed against Israel, saying it had been established following the second World War “under the pretext of Jewish suffering”.
Speaking through a translator, the Iranian leader continued: “They sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine . . . In compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine.”
EU delegates had made “contingency plans” before Mr Ahmadinejad’s speech because of fears he might “overstep the mark”, one European diplomat said.
“As soon as he started to address the question of the Jewish people and Israel, we had no reason to stay in the room,” explained French ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattei.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy later described Mr Ahmadinejad’s speech as “an intolerable call to racist hatred”.
British ambassador Peter Gooderham condemned what he said were “offensive and inflammatory” comments.
“Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a UN anti-racism forum,” he added.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon accused Mr Ahmadinejad of using his speech on the first day of the conference “to accuse, divide and even incite”, contradicting the very purpose of the meeting.
The Iranian president’s remarks make it “significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism”, Mr Ban, who sat directly behind Mr Ahmadinejad during his speech, added.
Last night the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, announced it was withdrawing from the conference in a national capacity.
UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay, however, said the best response to what she described as “objectionable” political grandstanding was to “reply and correct, not to withdraw and boycott” the conference.
“The overall atmosphere was quite sour. One now has to ask if today’s events have the potential to unravel the whole thing,” a diplomatic source said last night. “We will have a better idea tomorrow.”
Even before yesterday’s opening speeches, the conference, held to review progress on the implementation of commitments made at the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban, had been overshadowed by controversy. Several countries, including the US, Germany, Canada and Australia, decided to boycott the week-long event because of concerns that Muslim states would use it as a platform for denunciations of Israel and calls for “defamation” of religion to be defined as racism.
Some diplomats feared a repeat of the bitter wrangling that marred the Durban gathering, which saw delegates clash over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issue of slavery reparations. The US and Israel walked out of the Durban conference following attempts – which later proved unsuccessful – by some participants to equate Zionism with racism.
Meanwhile, Israel yesterday recalled its ambassador to Switzerland in protest at a meeting Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz held with Mr Ahmadinejad on Sunday during which Mr Merz pressed the case of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been jailed in Tehran.