DURBAN, South Africa – Thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans marched through the centre of Durban on Friday [08.31.01] as a world conference against racism got under way.
DURBAN, South Africa – Thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans marched through the centre of Durban on Friday [08.31.01] as a world conference against racism got under way.
“Israel is an apartheid state” and “Free, Free Palestine” were among banners waved by the protesters, estimated to number 10,000, as they headed for a meeting to be addressed by U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
Another banner read: “George Bush: Palestinian blood is on your hands.”
Both the United States and Israel have sent only low-level delegations to the United Nations-organised World Conference Against Racism in protest at what
they say is an anti-Israel bias in draft texts drawn up for the meeting.
Arab states have dropped clauses equating Zionism with Racism but want “foreign occupation” — a veiled reference to Israeli
actions in Palestinian territories — to be branded as a new kind of apartheid.
Armed police looked on as marchers filed through central city streets but there were no immediate reports of any violence.
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Author: Reuters
News Service: ProLibertad Freedom Campaign
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