25 Years of The Durban Playbook

In 2001, the UN held a World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. Hillel Neuer describes it as "a notorious hate fest." Thousands marched through Durban chanting that Zionism is Nazism. On the sidelines, people were handing out copies of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion alongside caricatures that looked like they'd been pulled straight from Der Stürmer. Meanwhile, at the NGO Forum running alongside the official conference, a declaration went even further, branding Israel a "racist, apartheid state" and guilty of "genocide." That was twenty-five years ago, well before Gaza. But it's the exact language you've heard nonstop since October 7. As Neuer puts it: "That's where it began." Amnesty and Human Rights Watch were both there. Groups funded by the Ford Foundation attended too. The US walked out; Israel walked out right behind it. Only two countries left in 2001. By 2009, ten had pulled out. By 2021, that number was thirty-eight. On Monday, September 28, the General Assembly marks twenty-five years since Durban with a full day of high-level meetings, and almost no one's talking about it. Hillel Neuer runs UN Watch. This is his second time on the show, and this episode is basically a warning flag for a date most people don't have on their radar. Listen to the full episode here: https://buff.ly/qHThyVb #Durban #UnitedNations #Israel