The following Letter to the Editor was submitted to the Washington Post:To the Editor:
The United States made the right decision to forgo a United Nations so-called racism conference “U.S. May Boycott U.N. Racism Conference Over Document” (February 28, 2009).
Israel and Canada were the first to recognize the upcoming conference as dripping in the same anti-Israel and anti-Semitic vitriol as the original 2001 meeting. There is a time for looking forward with hope and a time for embracing reality. The U.S. decision demonstrates that pursing diplomacy and engagement is a positive goal, but sometimes, it must be recognized as an impossible goal. Principles cannot be sacrificed on blind faith that others, whether nations or individuals, will do the right thing.
Walking away from a global discussion on such critical issues as race and intolerance is surely not easy. But sometimes the best tool in the diplomatic toolbox is leading by example.
Daniel S. Mariaschin, B’nai B’rith International executive vice president.
