DURBAN, South Africa -- A human rights forum coinciding with the U.N. summit on racism ended in rancor Sunday, after language equating Zionism with racism and calls to sanction Israel were adopted in a final declaration.
International human rights organizations rejected the forum's declaration, which was presented to the United Nations to be incorporated into the World Conference Against Racism's document.
"Israel has committed serious crimes against the Palestinian people, but it is simply not accurate to use the word genocide and wrong to equate Zionism with racism," Reed Brody, the advocacy director for Human Rights Watch said.
Jewish and Christian groups walked out when it became clear paragraphs condemning Israel for genocide against the Palestinians would be adopted.
The non-governmental organization forum included 166 rights groups from around the world, but the question of Palestinian rights dominated the meeting and other groups found it difficult to have their complaints heard.
Pro-Palestinian groups effectively lobbied a majority of groups attending the conference to equate Zionism -- the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state -- with racism. Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories was also decried as colonialism -- a potent political label in much of the world.
The document brands "Israel as a racist apartheid state" and calls for an end to the "ongoing, Israeli systematic perpetration of racist crimes, including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing."
The forum also recommended that the United Nations reinstate a resolution equating Zionism with racism, the establishment of a U.N. committee to prosecute Israeli war crimes and the isolation of Israel as an apartheid state.
Shawqi Issa, spokesman for the Arab caucus at the forum, said he thought the document was "a very good one."
"It's just facts. The Israeli government is a racist government ... and the Israeli government is an apartheid government. These are facts, and we can prove it," he said.
"This is what should be from the (non-governmental organization). They are not like the governments. They are here to protect the victims of racism," he said.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who has worked to allay the controversy over the condemnation of Israel at the world racism conference, criticized the declaration, saying she regretted the language equating Zionism with racism.
Palestinians have the right to protest their victimization, but "it is not appropriate that text emerged that revictimizes and is hurtful in itself," said Robinson, who is also secretary-general of the U.N. conference.
Brody said most of the forum's document was an eloquent condemnation of racist and discriminatory practices around the world, "it's just unfortunate that the use of inaccurate and intemperate language may overshadow all of that."
Stacy Burdett, an associate director with the Anti-Defamation League, said Jewish groups were discriminated against when planning for the forum began to the moment it ended.
"They've invalidated themselves. A conference against racism has turned into a conference promoting racism," Burdett said.
A spokesman for the Israeli delegation to the U.N. conference said despite attempts by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Robinson to ensure similar language does not end up in the official conference's final document, there was still a risk.
"I hope people at the conference will notice what happened and take it as a warning, a warning of what should not happen at the U.N. conference. Hate language is taking over," spokesman Noam Katz said. "It totally contradicts the aims of the World Conference Against Racism, to fight racism and promote tolerance."