Just when you thought the people at the tragicomically misnamed "Jewish Voice for Peace" couldn't stoop any lower into the gutter, they have decided to embarrass themselves with a rant breathtaking in its ignorance. Cecilie Surasky, posting on their house organ Muzzlewatch , decided that a group of Jewish students and Darfurian refugees demonstrating in Geneva against the farcical UN human rights conference were actually "being used as part of a hateful effort" by "scary right wing group StandWithUs". She goes on to deplore that there was tension between African and Arab delegates over Darfur (not that there would be any good reason to have tension over the wholesale slaughter of Africans by an Islamic regime). She must have been paying close attention to all those conspiracy websites that blame the evil Zionists for the conspiracy to save Darfur.

Cecilie did, in a different post, lament that Ahmedinijad's tirade against Israel undermined the work of the conference; but of course couldn't resist blaming the nefarious Israel Lobby for that ("He handed over to the pro-Israeli-occupation groups all they needed to make their point, that Durban II is just an Israel-hate fest."). But she doesn't appear to have a problem with a "human rights" conference run by the likes of Libya and Cuba, or the fact that the Arab states would block any consideration of the genocide in Darfur. And of course, in JVP-world, ANY group that supports the Jewish people's right to self-determination is a scary-right wing group-- in the same way that if you are standing at the North Pole, every direction that you look is south. I would also have thought that Cecilie would have no problem with the symbolism of the tape over one's mouth used by the demonstrators in Geneva to highlight the UN conference's silence over Darfur and other human rights issues in the Arab world-- after all, Muzzlewatch uses a similar image on its website. Of course, in JVP's case, it's just not quite the truth, since their anti-Israel perspective receives a steady roar of publicity thanks to Jimmy Carter, Walt and Mearsheimer, and other self-styled proponents of "peace". But then again, truth has never really been JVP's strong point.

So, in summary, a group of people shows the hypocrisy of the Geneva conference by holding hearings and public demonstrations on grave human rights violations--violations ignored by the UN conference under pressure from Islamic regimes. Yet JVP, which has shown no hesitation about standing with the racists of International ANSWER , calls this a "hateful effort"? Tell me, Cecilie, what signs did they hold that showed hatred? Where were their signs calling for extermination of an entire people, or glorifying tyrants like Hitler (contrast this to the NGO forum in Durban in 2001 which featured overt celebrations of Hitler and the Shoah)? Or do you define as "hatred" anything that affronts the delicate sensibilities of your Islamist friends?

No, addressing human rights is not a joke. Attempting to use a human rights conference to further a political vendetta against Israel is what turned the Geneva and Durban conferences into a sick joke; Ahmedinejad's presence turned it into a full-fledged circus. The clown nose fits him, as well as all those who see the world through the fun-house mirror of hatred of Israel that distorts reality. We've got one that fits you too, Cecilie.