Palestinians Agree to Drop Criticism of Israel at Racism Conference

Palestinian delegates will drop their criticism of Israel and Zionism in a final declaration for the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Friday in Durban, South Africa.

Jackson, who met with Yasser Arafat for three hours, said the Palestinian leader had agreed to oppose efforts to criticize Israel and Zionism, and to recognize the Holocaust as the worst crime of the 20th century.

The Palestinians were not immediately available for comment.

Jackson presented reporters with a handwritten draft of the document signed by Arafat in which he said he did not want the U.N. conference to derail over criticism of Israel.

The summit has been overshadowed in part by anti-Israel language in a draft of the conference document. Washington decided not to send a high-level delegation to the conference because of negative references to Israel and the Zionist movement.

Shortly after making the announcement, Jackson spoke to Secretary of State Colin Powell by telephone to explain the statement Arafat had signed.

Jackson criticized the Bush administration for not sending Powell, and claimed that he was able to resolve the controversy simply by talking to the Palestinian leader.

Arab countries have lobbied hard for a final declaration by the conference that would compare Israel with apartheid-era South Africa. They had already agreed to drop language equating Zionism — the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state — with racism, said Mary Robinson, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights who is secretary-general of the conference, which runs through Sept. 7.

Jewish groups attending a parallel forum for non-governmental organizations complained Thursday they were being harassed and discriminated against. They were forced to cut short a news conference denouncing anti-Semitism at the forum after Arab activists disrupted it with shouting and singing.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the conference on Friday with a plea for delegates from around the world to look beyond their individual disputes and develop an international plan to combat prejudice.

"If we leave here without agreement, we should give comfort to the worst elements in society," Annan told delegates from 166 countries and hundreds of human rights organizations. If an agreement is reached, "we shall send a signal of hope to brave people who struggle against racism all over the world."

"Let us rise above our disagreements. The wrangling has gone on for too long," Annan said.

About a dozen heads of state listened to Annan's speech, including Fidel Castro of Cuba, Joseph Kabila of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was also at the conference.

Addressing the controversy, Annan said Jewish suffering during the Holocaust understandably made Jews sensitive to accusations of racism, especially when they coincide with the killing of innocent Jewish civilians.

"Yet we cannot expect Palestinians to accept this as a reason why the wrongs done to them — displacement, occupation, blockade, and now extra-judicial killings — should be ignored, whatever label one uses to describe them," Annan said to a wave of applause.