wfn.org | WCC - From the panel to the writing desk

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Update, Up-01-29
For Immediate Use
3 September 2001

 From the panel to the writing desk
The World Conference Against Racism:  no longer a matter of
lively and direct encounter but of polishing sentences and
paragraphs 

cf. WCC Press Update, Up-01-28, of 31 August 2001
cf. WCC Press Release, PR-01-29, of 27 August 2001

When the conference of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
ended yesterday and the United Nations (UN) governmental
conference began, there was a change not only in tone, clothing
and general atmosphere. The colourful, vivacious NGO gathering of
those directly affected gave way to the almost ceremonial arrival
of heads of state and officials who now communicate in the halls
of the conference centre only with the help of loudspeakers. No
more panel debates, group discussions and spontaneous, often
emotional encounters; now the agenda comprises ready-made
statements, declarations and written action programmes of the UN.
 

The NGO Forum is working day and night to get the results and
demands of the one- week NGO conference down on paper so they can
be submitted to the UN governmental conference. It is not just a
matter of words, but of carefully drafted sentences and
paragraphs. And still more important is what is not said - or
what is deleted.  

The delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) has
joined an "Ecumenical Caucus" for the lobbying work now underway.
Daily meetings coordinate activities to ensure that the voice of
the churches will be heard clearly and specifically on the
various subjects in the NGO declaration, to be submitted to the
governmental conference on Tuesday, September 4.  

The Ecumenical Caucus gave particular support to the demands of
the Palestinian Caucus. Marilia Schuller, member of the WCC staff
and spokeswoman of the now only-nine-member WCC delegation, said,
"Yesterday we jointly made a great achievement." She noted that a
proposed paragraph in the NGO document that failed to make a
clear distinction between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel,
was rejected. "All the interest groups at the plenary with the
exception of Israel voted to drop the paragraph," she said.  

The Palestinian question occupied more time at the World
Conference than some had expected. "At this conference, Palestine
became what apartheid in South Africa was for the world in the
past. Palestine has become an issue that unites the different
human rights groups," says Marwan Bishara, the Palestinian member
of the WCC delegation. "But it is important to emphasize that
criticism of Israel does not signal any kind of anti-Semitism. We
firmly maintain all our statements against anti-Semitism. The
holocaust must not be equated with Palestine. But our attitude to
Palestine signifies an important moral decision which includes us
among the voices of the NGO families in the world."  

The Palestinian question is only one of the many issues to which
the WCC has contributed in the different interest groups. In the
caucus of the Indian Dalits and in the caucuses on religious
intolerance and women's issues as well, the WCC hopes its voice
will strengthen the demands for human rights in practice.  

Photos of the Conference are available at the WCC website:
http://wcc-coe.org/photo/events/events.html 

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer,  Tel:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   	Mobile: 
(+41) 79.284.52.12
or Bob Scott in Durban, Tel: (+27) 83.542.1946

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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