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United Methodists press on while US delegation walks out of anti-racism meeting

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Response
   to WCAR
   walkout 		General Board of Global Ministries representatives at the World Conference Against Racism joined colleagues from other United Methodist boards and agencies in expressing disappointment at the US decision to walk out of the Durban, South Africa, meeting.

In a statement yesterday, GBGM's Human Rights and Racial Justice executive the Rev. David Wildman said that in calling the delegation home at a critical juncture of the conference, the U.S. Administration expressed its unwillingness to participate in dialogue, international cooperation and global struggles for racial justice.

"This is the third global conference against racism that the U.S. has refused to participate in," Wildman said in a statement drafted with Gretchen Hakola of the General Board for Church and Society and Lois Dauway, assistant general secretary for Christian Social Responsibility at GBGM's Women's Division.

The US walkout "marks the latest in a disturbing series of decisions by the U.S. Administration," the statement added.

General Conference, the highest legislative body of the United Methodist Church resolved last year that "new attitudes, new understandings, and new relationships must be reflected in the laws, policies, structures, and practices of both church and state ["Racism-A Violation of Human Rights," #159, 2000 Book of Resolutions].

The World Conference began August 31 and continues till September 7. The US and Israeli delegations walked out yesterday because of efforts to equate Israel's treatment of Palestinians with racism. Both had sent low-level teams. President Bush had warned the US would pull out of the Durban conference if there was any attempt to condemn Zionism as a form of racism, or if the agenda included demands for reparations for slavery.

The US provides 3 billion per year in annual foreign aid to Israel. Funds from other US federal budgets and loan guarantees make the total package much higher. Library of Congress Research Service and USAID figures show that Israel received $62.5 billion in foreign aid from fiscal years 1949 through 1996, equaling the combined US aid to the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in those 47 years.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was at the conference with the Black Leadership Forum, said he was disappointed that President Bush allowed the debate over Israel to determine US participation. "In many ways the American delegation never walked in," Jackson said.

The statement from GBGM and GBCS representatives at the anti-racism conference did not deny that difficult issues remained. But it condemned the US decision, citing South African Minister of Foreign Affairs and WCAR secretary Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who said, "we cannot build the kind of world this conference seeks by redlines, by ultimatums."

September 5, 2001
General Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church
475 Riverside Drive - New York, New York 10115
1-800-UMC-GBGM