A/59/329
to the Commission on Human Rights of physical and verbal violence suffered by
Muslims in the United States and Europe after 11 September 2001 libellous. She
makes other attacks, before concluding that the report of the Special Rapporteur “is
but a tiny part of the auto-da-fé of a former bigwig of UNESCO, an organization
with a Sovietophilic past”. She then claims that “in Geneva, Doudou [Diène] will
ask the Holy Office of the United Nations to devise ‘a strategy to eradicate any
ideology that defames Islam and to encourage a world congress to monitor how
history is written — or, rather, taught’”. It is precisely this kind of reasoning that
leads intellectuals and political leaders of the far right to deny the resurgence of
anti-Semitism and engage in historical revisionism.
37. The Durban Declaration strongly condemned “the increase in anti-Semitism
and Islamophobia in various parts of the world, as well as the emergence of racial
and violent movements based on racism and discriminatory ideas against Jewish,
Muslim and Arab communities” (A/CONF.189/12 and Corr.1, para. 61). The
General Assembly, in its resolution 58/160 on global efforts for the total elimination
of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, confirmed that
analysis, expressing deep concern about the increase in anti-Semitism,
Christianophobia and Islamophobia in various parts of the world, as well as the
emergence of racial and violent movements based on racism and discriminatory
ideas directed against Arab, Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities.
38. In his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixtieth session, the
Special Rapporteur emphasized this recent and alarming resurgence of antiSemitism and the importance of investigating the underlying causes and
manifestations of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and finding ways and means
to combat them. He also recommended that the Commission should formally
support the submission of a report on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism at each of its
sessions. In his report on the situation of Muslim and Arab peoples in various parts
of the world, submitted to the Commission at the same session, the Special
Rapporteur emphasized the importance of assessing rigorously and systematically
all manifestations of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and invited the
Commission to recommend that the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights should establish a centre to monitor the
contemporary phenomena of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and entrust it
with developing a scientific methodology for precise measurement of such
phenomena and, in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur, preparing an annual
report thereon for submission to the Commission and the General Assembly.
39. In his opening remarks at the seminar on anti-Semitism held by the United
Nations in New York on 21 June 2004, the Secretary-General recalled that the
Commission on Human Rights, at its most recent session, had asked the Special
Rapporteur to examine the situation of Muslim and Arab peoples in various parts of
the world, with special reference to physical assaults and attacks against their places
of worship, cultural centres, businesses and properties. Echoing the original
proposal of the Special Rapporteur, the Secretary-General recommended that he,
and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, should “actively
explore ways of combating anti-Semitism more effectively in the future”.
40. The Special Rapporteur therefore concluded that the position of the SecretaryGeneral justified taking Commission on Human Rights resolution 2004/6 to mean
that he should submit to the Commission at its next session reports on Islamophobia,
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