Tomorrow Secretary of State Colin Powell will not be in Durban, South Africa at the United Nation's World Conference Against Racism. Maybe he'll play golf, or visit his grandsons, or think about staging an insurrection in 2004. He won't be in South Africa because his boss, President Bush, doesn't want America to play with the other countries if they aren't nice to America's friends. Bush said last Friday, "We will have no representative there so long as they pick on Israel, as long as they continue to say Zionism is racism," and called the Jewish state "our friend and strong ally."
America apparently takes care of its friend Israel by putting its hands over its ears and screaming, "I can't hear you!" when the Arab nations raise a controversial but worthwhile question. If we seriously want to keep Israel from being isolated, we cannot boycott a major global event simply because we don't like the way some people talk about Israel. We must engage Israel's enemies in rational debate, getting to the root of their anger against Israel - and Israel's responding resentment - that prevents peace in the Middle East.
Webster's Dictionary defines Zionism thus: "Among the Jews, a theory, plan, or movement for colonizing their own race in Palestine, the land of Zion, or, if that is impracticable, elsewhere, either for religious or nationalizing purposes." Further, Webster's definition of Jew is racial rather than religious: "Originally, one belonging to the tribe or kingdom of Judah; after the return from the Babylonish captivity, any member of the new state; a Hebrew; an Israelite." For over half a century, Zionists have successfully defended Israel - their Jewish colonization in the land of Zion - against displaced Palestinians and Arab neighbors.
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Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, said that Arabs planned to criticize Israel sharply at the conference on the grounds that Zionism is an unacceptable manifestation of racism. Israel says its struggle with the Palestinians is a political dispute, not a racial one. Presumably this means that Israel doesn't discriminate against Palestinians because of their race.
By definition, Zionism focuses on race, asking whether someone is Jewish or not. If he is, Israel welcomes him to a refuge from the persecution Jews have suffered for thousands of years. If he is not Jewish, tough luck. This raises some extremely difficult and therefore necessary questions. All parties to the Middle Eastern conflict need to question whether all discrimination based on race is racist. They need to discuss whether the horrific history of abuse and genocide of Jews makes Zionism an acceptable form of racial discrimination. Perhaps most importantly, Israel and its allies need to ask if the Palestinians and Arab states are practicing discrimination against Jews - if the people crying "Racism!" at Israel are being racist themselves.
But those sympathetic to Zionism can't inquire into Arab racism at the conference if they're not there, if they're too scared of the answers to the questions about Israel to take the risk of showing up. As Americans, we are an embarrassment to Thomas Jefferson, who declared, "We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead," even if the pursuit of truth takes us far from our safe harbors of past policy and present convictions. As long as we fear open debate and thorough discussion, we are not truly secure.
Aside from troubles in the Middle East, the United States also needs for its own sake to attend a conference addressing racism both within and between countries. The Rev. Jesse Jackson noted that having Powell, the highest-ranking black official in American history, go to Africa would send a powerful message about racial progress in the U.S.
Moreover, several African states have called on the United States and formerly slave-trading European nations to issue a formal apology and pay reparations to the descendants of slaves. Maybe we want to mutter "sorry" and promise development aid, or to mount a difficult effort to find the descendants of slaves and pay them some unspecified amount. Regardless of the position America intends to take, absence does not make the kind of statement we want. We certainly do not want to disrespect countries that have raised a legitimate concern about the historical relations between predominantly white nations and predominantly black ones.
To protect Israel's interests and look for the truth in Arab charges of racism, the United States should send Powell to Durban. For our own dignity on the world stage, we should take our place among the countries assembled at the U.N. conference. Bush's latest move toward isolation only decreases America's political power and moral authority. As a former owner of the Texas Rangers, Bush should know the rules. You automatically lose if you don't go to the game.
(Pallavi Guniganti's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at pguniganti@cavalierdaily.com.)
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