Ex-O.J 'Splains his Durban M.O.

A former Ceej honcho, writing in the National Post, tries to account for his participation in an abomination (my bolds):

Much has been made of late in regards to the Conservative 10-per-center and most specifically the role of the then-Liberal government at Durban 1. According to the handout the Liberals "willingly participated in the overtly anti-Semitic Durban 1."

In August of 2001, I was a delegate to Durban 1 as the then-national-president of Canadian Jewish Congress. Allow me to say what occurred there.

We all were excited by the prospect of Durban 1. It was the early part of the new century, 911 was still nothing more than an emergency phone number and we hoped this international anti-racism conference would sow the seeds for a better world to come. How wrong we turned out to be.

As we came closer to the beginning of this gathering it became increasingly clear that the enemies of Israel were determined to hijack it. Israel was to have attended but the more anti-Semitic activities in and around the Durban site were countenanced the more it became clear that Israel simply could not stay. We too began to wonder if Canada should be there at all. In fact we called for Canada to leave.

However, following a conversation with then-deputy foreign minister of Israel Michael Melchior, we decided otherwise. Rabbi Melchior urged us to remain in Durban to combat the anti-Semitism and hatred that was evident even before the conference began. His reasoning was that since the Oslo accords, Israel had left the international stage, leaving it open for the demonizers to take control. Rabbi Melchior believed that the hate-mongers must be confronted.

In no way can it ever be insinuated that the Canadian government of the day willingly engaged in an anti-Semitic conference. On the contrary, the Canadian delegation --along with representatives from my organization and B'nai Brith Canada -- stared anti-Semitism in the face at Durban 1. By doing so I am convinced we played a significant ameliorating role, and raised the alarm to the rest of the world.

Keith M. Landy, Toronto.

Well, that's one way to look at it. Another is like this: if the cannibals are giving a pot luck dinner, and you know that you're what's going in the pot, it's probably a good idea to avoid the par-tay--unless you're a masochist with a death wish and you're lookin' for a cookin'. Did we need the O.J.s to sit through the entire Durban conference to convey the message that the UN is full of cannibals? Of course not. However, by staying put during the whole sordid Jew-bash, the Jews ended up sending the opposite message from the one they intended--i.e. that this forum was worthy of their participation.

Sorry, Keef, your lame explanation lies there cold and inert, like a dead herring.