The Throughline from the Durban Conference to Oct. 7

"When Hamas’ October 7 massacre on Israelis took place almost three years ago, what was so stunning to so many was the widespread reaction to the horror on the very next day.

Israel had not done anything to retaliate at that point, and yet, instead of empathy for the victims and the Jewish people, the world witnessed a stunning surge of hostility toward the Jewish state. The suddenness of this backlash came as a shock to many who believe in Israel’s right to exist, and many wondered where it all came from.

As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the infamous United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, the answer to that question lies right in front of us. This UN conference, which was intended to address real issues of discrimination in the world, quickly turned into an antisemitic spectacle the likes of which the international community had not witnessed in decades.

Indeed, a substantial part of the roots of the hatred of Israel and Jews that we are witnessing today can be traced back to this conference. The main charges circulating these days against the state of Israel were all normalized and legitimized at Durban in 2001. In particular, the trio of accusations against the Jewish state—colonialism, apartheid, genocide—that are making the rounds incessantly these days were all central features of Durban’s sustained assault on Israel’s legitimacy.

In effect, the multi-pronged assault on the Jewish state after October 7 in the media, in courtrooms, social media and more should not be seen as a surprise but as a product of the ideas circulating back at Durban. The slaughter of Israelis on October 7, and the perception of Jewish weakness and vulnerability it exposed, provided that opportune moment.

The significance of Durban was not that it generated violence. Rather, it created a new intellectual and moral framework through which hostility toward Israel—and increasingly toward Jews—could be presented as a struggle for justice, anti-racism, and human rights. It gave ancient prejudice a modern vocabulary..."