Durban, South Africa — First Colin Powell, the American Secretary of State, was scheduled to head his countrys delegation to the Conference against Racism (WCAR) in South Africa. Then the United States withdrew its top diplomat, citing its concern that Israel would be singled out for condemnation at the meeting in Durban.
The replacement head of the American delegation to South Africa was a deputy assistant secretary of state for international institutions, whose name few delegates had ever heard.
Then, on Monday, Powell announced that he had instructed the envoys sent from Washington to the South African port city to leave the conference and return home. The Israelis were the next to go. Both countries condemned what they called "hateful" and racist language used at the conference and directed at Israel. They bitterly fought a bid by Arab and Islamic states to have Zionism (the movement that led to the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948) equated with racism.
The Arabs insisted that paragraphs in the draft declaration criticizing Israels treatment of Palestinians be left in. The Americans and Israelis were equally determined to have them removed.
By Tuesday, Americas Washington delegates had pulled out, but the United States apparently told the secretary-general of the Durban conference, the UNs High Commission for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, that the US had not entirely withdrawn from the proceedings.
Robinson said she was told to inform the gathering that, despite the Washington delegation boarding an aircraft out of Durban, America would continue to be represented at the conference - at an even lower level, by its consul general in the city.
US officials later denied this. They stressed that their representative would attend only as an observer, sowing greater confusion about the precise role of the Americans at the Racism Conference.
The host nation, South Africa, the European Union and the Arab League, met on Tuesday hoping to find a compromise to the dispute that led to the walkout by the Americans and the Israelis.
The South African Foreign Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said she regretted the move by both Israel and the United States. "I think it is unfortunate that the two countries left, and I think that, in the long run, they will be the losers.
The US civil rights campaigner, Jesse Jackson, told reporters: "In many ways, the American delegation never walked in." Jackson, who is part of the Black Leadership Forum representation at the Durban conference, said he was disappointed that the 'Zionism is racism' debate had dictated American participation at the conference.
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"By walking out in the middle of the conference, the US is letting down the victims of racism on all sides," was the reaction from the global rights organization, Amnesty International.
Others have accused the United States of using the Zionism hate debate as a pretext to avoid tackling contentious issues such as racism in America and slave trade reparations.
Robinson told a news briefing on Tuesday that she considered the conference was back on course, despite the departure of the Americans and the Israelis. "Were steadied," she added, "we have a long and bumpy way forward. Everybody knows the time is short." Robinson said she was confident that the proceedings would continue until the scheduled end of the conference on Friday, 7 September.
The UN and the host country South Africa are desperate to rescue the Racism Conference and worked throughout Tuesday to draft a new text, acceptable to all, that should become the final declaration.
A spokesman for the Foreign Minister of Belgium, which is currently president of the European Union, said they wanted a "short, well-balanced text".
