Racism isn’t black and white

Some problems are so multi-faceted and so controversial it seems a solution will never be found.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of these. History, religion, ignorance, racism, unending violence and numerous grievances by all parties involved have created the most hotly contested political environment on Earth.

The conflict tends to incite a for-or-against mentality in both people and governments, leaving little room for compromise or middle ground.

The United States is no exception to this stubborn thinking. It is so set in its ways that it has chosen to boycott the United Nations’ Durban Review Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

The United States’ harsh stance on the Durban Review Conference, held in Geneva, is because of the conference’s assertion that the Palestinians have a right to an independent state and protection from racism. It also states that the Israelis have this right, along with the right to national security, but this point seems to be lost on the Obama administration.

The staunch either/or thinking from both sides of the conflict is what has been keeping us running in circles for years around the same problem. As both sides refuse to budge and the whole world adds its shouting to the din, the violence simply escalates, giving both sides more reason to dig in their heels and wish for the total destruction of the other.

But the larger problem is that the Durban Review Conference is not just about the Middle East.

It is about racism and racial discrimination in all its manifestations around the globe. It is about the caste system in India, the ethnic conflicts in Sudan and the Congo and the discrimination against indigenous peoples of Australia. It is also about issues of racism of particular prominence in the United States, such as gang violence and the burden in the national conscience of the heritage of slavery.

What message is the Obama administration sending the world by not being present in these discussions? What message is it sending to its own country?

Sometimes those who disagree with us are best left ignored (Ann Coulter comes to mind). And sometimes there really is no gray area between right and wrong, and a firm stance must be maintained no matter how long it takes to achieve victory.

I certainly wouldn’t want to sit in a room and listen to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad deny the Holocaust and call for the destruction of Israel. But no more could I tolerate the insistence that Israel only uses violence in defense of lands it rightfully claimed.

Both opinions are likely to come up at the Durban Review Conference, and the wisest delegates will refrain from entertaining either idea.

This is not an issue of absolutes. The longer we recognize extremists on either side, the longer it will take for a resolution to be found. By boycotting the conference, the United States is taking an extremist stance and missing out on the first reasonable step: conversation.