SPECIAL ENVOY ON ANTI-SEMITISM RICKMAN MEETS

UNCLAS GENEVA 000410 SIPDIS SECSTATE FOR IO-RHS, DRL-MLGA, L-HRR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM UNHRC SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY ON ANTI-SEMITISM RICKMAN MEETS JEWISH AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN GENEVA ¶1. Summary: On the margins of a conference in Geneva on the Durban Review Conference, Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism Gregg Rickman held meetings on May 26 and 27 with leaders of the Jewish community, representatives of the Geneva cantonal government, and officials from other UN missions and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). Dr. Rickman concluded that much remains to be done to fully address anti-Semitism in Switzerland and in Geneva-based international organizations. END SUMMARY. JEWISH COMMUNITY LEADERS -------------- ¶2. Dr. Rickman heard two somewhat different assessments of the severity of the anti-Semitism problem in Switzerland in a meeting with two leading Jewish leaders. Ron Aufseesser, a leader of Geneva's moderate Jewish community, stressed that the community had strong ties with local officials and that it had found workable solutions (including a compromise that now allows the use of Swiss land for a Jewish cemetary) for most difficulties. Johann Gurfinkiel, the president of CICAD, the main Jewish political organization in francophone Switzerland, showed somewhat less satisfaction with the relationship with authorities, but offered few direct criticisms beyond mentioning some difficulties CICAD has had in prioritizing religious sensitization in education; it was difficult to address universally, as each canton had to be approached individually, but the Geneva canton had a quite good education department. CICAD organizes an annual trip to Auschwitz for teachers that Gurfinkiel found had had good results. Both thought that most anti-Semitic incidents show up in the press and were mostly associated with events in the Middle East. ¶3. Two other major community leaders, Jean-Marc Brunschwig and David Bernstein, stressed that the Jewish community had made strides in gaining political influence in Switzerland. They described how CICAD and Jewish organizations had reached out to Swiss Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey and to Swiss legislators. When Calmy-Rey took her recent trip to Iran, then, those organizations had met with her to express opposition, and had also generated opposition to the trip among legislators. Just as those efforts were beginning to bear fruit, however, international protests, including by U.S. organizations, had evoked a backlash in Calmy-Rey's 
favor among many in the Swiss community who saw such criticism as external interference. (Aufseesser had made a similar point in the earlier meeting, implying that while the U.S. push for Swiss banks to relinquish Holocaust victims' assets to their inheritors was the only way anything would have been resolved, it came across as "brutal" in the Swiss context.) While the former head of Geneva's Muslim community had been cooperative in relations with the Jewish community, the new head was far more radical, raising concerns about a spike of anti-Semitism in future, Brunschwig and Bernstein noted. ¶4. Brunschwig and Bernstein said that while anti-Semitism among the Swiss was a manageable problem that was being well monitored, it was a far more serious problem within Geneva-based international organizations. They cited schools involved with international organizations in which some teachers had expressed anti-Semitic views, and hoped an effective monitoring system could be established. ¶5. Dr. Rickman visited the Hekhal Haness synagogue, which suffered from an arson attack a year ago. Synagogue leaders reported that, while the police were aware that the fire had resulted from a criminal attack, they had failed to identify the perpetrator(s) and had few additional leads to pursue their investigation. Repairs of the badly damaged synagogue are well advanced. GENEVA CANTON OFFICIALS -------------- ¶6. Dr. Rickman had a useful meeting with: Ivana Vrbrica, the former head of secondary education in the Geneva public schools; Andre Castella, the Geneva canton delegate on integration; and Jacques Pahud, head of the judicial police. Vrbrica noted that, while Geneva schools attempted to teach remembrance of the Holocaust and foster "good citizenship skills", they did not address specific crises in the world that might give rise to anti-Semitic sentiments. The schools relied on many organizations, including CICAD, for expertise. School tours of World War II-era border crossings covered all aspects of persecution suffered by those who sought refuge in Switzerland. Castella explained that Geneva cantonal law concerning discrmination is derived from the Federal Law on Foreigners (2002). He saw a great need to cultivate diversity and enable the integration of newcomers to the city, especially youth; the canton was reworking its information about racism. Castella said most Muslim immigrants originated in the Balkans; problems from this group often resulted from the socio-economic difficulties of their immigration situation. West African asylum seekers, though few in number, presented similar difficulties and problems; they engaged in street violence, not terrorism. Pahud described the very low number of reported anti-Semitic incidents (two graffiti incidents in the last five years); he has a record only of formal reports of anti-Semitic incidents. Permits were required for all demonstrations, including by pro-Palestinian groups, but displays of anti-Semitic signs would not necessarily be investigated unless there was a complaint; all protests had been peaceful. He also hypothesized that the Israeli Mission in Geneva may plant incidents to test the Geneva government's security protection. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR) -------------- -------------- ¶7. Dr. Rickman opened his meeting with High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) Louise Arbour by asking her to consider making a strong statement against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Arbour pointed to her statement on UN Holocaust Memorial Day and other occasions, but implied she did not see the need for anything further at the moment. On the question of Israel's treatment in the Human Rights Council (HRC), Arbour said that 90 percent of the Israel-specific initiatives were indeed in bad faith and merged a critique of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism; while the HCHR had no mandate to protect any one state, the office did need to stand up once criticism of the state crossed into criticism of a people. However, she pointed out that the Canadian Israel and Jewish Association (an NGO recently harrassed by Iran in Durban Review Conference preparations) confused matters by including the name of a nation in its title; she also emphasized that it was essential to retain the ability to critique all states, including Israel, in the HRC. Islamophobia issues in the HRC were also brought up in both good and bad faith. She said that the difficulty of distinguishing between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism would remain intractable until problems in the Middle East were solved. Arbour asked that the U.S. and other Western and Other Group (WEOG) governments be more aware that their tendency to privilege civil and political rights over economic, social, and cultural rights is perceived as hypocritical by others. Arbour was not open to Rickman's suggestion that she create a Special Advisor on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, saying she thought it would encourage the tendency not to address discrimination of people who lack an HRC or OHCHR category. ¶8. In a separate meeting, Michael Wiener (of OHCHR) said that Special Rapporteur (SR) on the Freedom of Religion Asma Jahangir brought up anti-Semitism whenever relevant both on country visits as well as in communications sent to countries. To draw more attention to the issue in reluctant countries, she had started following up on allegations with her own assessments, whether or not she received a response to the initial communication. Country visits during which she addressed anti-Semitism include: the United Kingdom, France, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Israel. Wiener said SR Jahangir was keenly interested in preventing incitement on both sides in Israel, and particularly in efforts to prevent teaching discriminatory attitudes to children. Many visit requests are outstanding, including to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Jahangir has not commented on the issue of anti-Semitic KSA textbooks and Wiener noted that addressing the textbook issue was delicate and a full analysis required access to the actual books. Dr. Rickman said he had access to translations of the books in question, and Wiener indicated the SR's office would be grateful for them. Jahangir has not addressed the question of similar Iranian textbooks, either, nor did her predecessor do so when he visited in 2005. However, Jahangir does regularly bring up anti-Semitism and religious discrimination (particularly against the Baha'i community) in communications and press releases about Iran. ¶6. Wiener also backstops the office of the SR on Racism, Doudou Diene and went on to discribe SR Diene's work. Wiener pointed out that the resolution establishing the mandate obligates the SR to cover Islamophobia, Christianophobia, and anti-Semitism, but that SR Diene had pushed to include a wider range of religions in that mandate. Wiener remarked that Diene had been "quite blunt" in condemning the Iranian president's call to wipe out Israel. On the issue of defamation of religion, Wiener noted that SR Jahangir is no fan of the concept and SR Diene has said, in the context of Durban review, that he would prefer a focus on incitement to religious and racial hatred over the focus on defamation of religions themselves. Wiener and Dr. Rickman briefly discussed the Toledo education guidelines for encouraging religious awareness and tolerance; while Wiener emphasized that the guidelines were not binding, he did find them to be a good list of best practices. DISCUSSIONS WITH OTHER MISSIONS TO THE UN -------------- ¶7. Dr. Rickman and Israeli Ambassador Isaac Levanon brainstormed on how to set up rapid response talking points for defenders against anti-Semitism around the world. They expressed a shared desire to combat anti-Semitism with the same vigour that its supporters display. Ambassador Levanon suggested joint US and Israel cooperation to draw up such points; Dr. Rickman pointed to his recent report as a possible source upon which Israel might draw for such pre-drafted responses. They also discussed the venue for the Durban Review Conference, with Ambassador Levanon showing a preference for New York, where he felt the public would be more "on our side"; he said Jerusalem favored Vienna, where laws against anti-Semitism might curb a repeat of the disastrous NGO Forum of the 2001 conference (note: Geneva was chosen as the review conference venue that afternoon. End note.). Ambassador Levanon raised the prospect of a separate conference at the same time as the review conference to highlight the problems of the main conference. ¶8. Dr. Rickman asked Egyptian Ambassador Sameh Shoukra and Minister Plenipotentiary Ihab Gamaleldin their views on the Canadian NGO CIJA (see above note). Ambassador Shoukra said the problem was a procedural one: CIJA chose not to answer a "last and crucial question" about their support for the Durban review process. He further stated that the GOE had no ability and no desire to place limits on any NGO forum at the Durban Review Conference; they were focused on maintaining a consensual government process. When asked about parallels between Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, Ambassador Shoukra distinguished between the defamation issue, which arose from a concern to protect all faiths, and Islamophobia, which was racial discrimination against Muslims. He appreciated the consistency of the U.S. position of protecting all free speech, as opposed to European laws forbidding some defamatory speech, but not defamations of Islam. Minister Gamaleldin took issue with his experience in the Human Rights department of the MFA in Cairo, where he claimed that the U.S. had asked him to prohibit anti-Semitic cartoons under an anti-defamation law. Dr. Rickman thought that request probably had been in reference to cartoons in official Egyptian media; in response, Ambassador Shoukra pointedly remarked that official Egyptian media is "just as free as the BBC"--and suggested the U.S. line might have more consistently encouraged any and all cartoons in Egyptian official media. Ambassador Shoukra expressed hope of finding an approach to defamation that might bring the U.S. on board. ¶9. Dr. Rickman's discussion with Marghoob Saleem Butt, from the Pakistani Mission to the UN, focused on the distinction between criticism of the state of Israel and anti-Semitism. While Butt said Pakistan works against anti-Semitism throughout the UN system and abhors it as much as it abhors Islamophobia, he saw a need to preserve a way to critique actions of the state of Israel. Regarding Pakistani promotion of anti-defamation of religion language in the UN system, Butt freely acknowledged the difference in opinion on the legality of protecting a concept versus a protecting a person, but said that when one religion was linked to a certain perception of all its adherants, the two protections were intertwined. Dr. Rickman asked about the blurring of lines that led to Jews in other countries being blamed for Israel's actions, to which Butt responded that this was "stupid, and the same argument that links all Muslims to terrorism." He also emphasized the OIC position that a new instrument is needed to address Islamophobia and the defamation of religion. TICHENOR