Ann Bayefsky writing about Durban III and its related declaration on "racism" and religious "intolerance" (Islamophobia) in the Weekly Standard:

On September 22, the U.N. General Assembly will feature speeches from the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay - a major supporter of Durban III - and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is poised to deliver his usual anti-Semitic tirade under the General Assembly's banner. Along with these speeches, get ready for a major assault on human rights: The Durban Declaration charges Israel - and only Israel, among 192 U.N. nations - with racism. The declaration is a reincarnation of the "Zionism is racism" libel, and it is about to be catapulted to new heights if Pillay, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and willing collaborators in the developing world's G-77 get their way.

Negotiators are planning to finalize the declaration, intended to be rubber-stamped by world leaders later this month, as early as today. This will leave each government with a stark choice: join Islamic states and their partners in perpetrating this "anti-racist" swindle or join the boycott. Durban enthusiasts are hoping to make that choice as difficult as possible by masking the agenda with a human rights veneer.

For instance, the new declaration is called "United against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance." Except that, given how racism has been defined, the General Assembly is not united on the subject. It expresses much heartfelt concern for the "victims of racism" - except those words are the product of intense lobbying by Islamic states because the Durban Declaration says Palestinians are "victims" of Israeli racism. There is a harmless looking reference to "intolerance including its new forms and manifestations." It was inserted because of the OIC/G-77 demanded the declaration cover Islamophobia and defamation of religion. As Egypt's representative to the Human Rights Council back in March, "the denigration of religions is wrongly justified on the ground of the right to freedom of expression."

The U.N. gamesmanship at work here is a form of art. Russia has been suggesting language for the new declaration that would denigrate free speech and place restrictions on the media. The OIC states, keen on denigrating Israel above all, have stepped in to propose a "middle ground" that purports to "give up" anti-free speech provisions in exchange for including cloaked Israel-bashing provisions. Belgium, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland are seemingly anxious to sign on. And the French are delighted that the U.N.-speak has become convoluted enough for them to sign, too. And all the negotiators are careful simply to refer to the Israel-problem as the "sensitive" issue.

Nine member states, including the US, are already boycotting the September 22 conference. It is clear that no nation that treasures freedom of speech and is dedicated to fighting racism like the kind shown by Libyans who are slaughtering black Africans, should sign this excerable document. But many in the west are less devoted to those concepts - especially where their own anti-Semitism can be exposed.

Hence, mutliculturalism will win out and justice and fairness will lose.