E/CN.4/2002/24 page 9 2. Canada 10. As he stated in his most recent report to the Commission (E/CN.4/2001/21, para. 16), the Special Rapporteur received an invitation from the Canadian authorities to visit their country in order to examine in situ allegations of discrimination against several ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. In view of his workload for the approaching World Conference against Racism and because of other commitments, the Special Rapporteur was not able to make this visit and suggested to the Canadian Government that it should be postponed to 2002. 3. Lack of cooperation by Israel 11. The Special Rapporteur notes with great regret that the active cooperation with the State of Israel which has been a feature of his mandate since 1994 is encountering serious difficulties, with the Government of Israel reacting negatively to his appeals, even in the context of implementation of a Commission on Human Rights or General Assembly resolution, such as Commission resolution 2000/S-5/1 entitled “Grave and massive violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel”. Of interest in this connection is the joint statement by the Special Rapporteurs concerned by Commission resolution 2000/S-5/1, published in an annex to document E/CN.4/2002/14 (appendix III). The Special Rapporteur earnestly hopes that the Government of Israel will resume its positive attitude towards his mandate, in the interest of effective and thorough action to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. II. CONTEMPORARY MANIFESTATIONS OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE A. Impact of the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States of America on Muslims, Arabs and other population groups of Asian origin 12. The tragic and painful events of 11 September 2001, in the United States of America caused horror and disapproval throughout the world and represented an appalling introduction to the twenty-first century. In the ensuing confusion, some people were quick to associate Muslims and/or Arabs with terrorists. The Special Rapporteur was told that the terrorist attacks of 11 September provoked racist reactions against Muslims, Arabs and other Middle Eastern population groups in a number of countries, in particular Australia, Canada, the United States and several member countries of the European Union (Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden). There were reports of an increase in insults, physical assaults against members of those communities and destruction of their property. The authorities of the countries concerned and most of the other political players in those countries spoke up against these racist reactions. A summary of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab reactions is given below.