We cannot pretend there was no past. All of us irrespective of which side of the divide must approach this matter with the aims of achieving an outcome that can indeed close the ugly chapter of slavery, colonial exploitation, racism and start this century on a new page. I am aware that this is not going to be easy but with our collective will to put this matter behind us we shall succeed. During our short rest we must appreciate the scenery and take note of the contemporary forms of slavery like trafficking in women and children xenophobia which is on the increase in Africa, Asia, America and elsewhere. Religious intolerance is still a major problem and so is racism and racial discrimination.
Sexism compounds racism and xenophobia for women.
These are all the problems we have to deal with at the Durban Conference. Since everybody agrees that this should be a forward looking conference we should be able to come up with a programme of action that would be implentable at an individual, national and international level. We owe it to future generations to take a bold and decisive step against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. It should be possible to work towards a world and a future where a Palestinian child and an Israeli child should have access to food, shelter, health services, education and security. A world where a Palestinian child and Israeli child should grow up in brotherhood and sisterhood where an Israeli mother feels the pain when a Palestinian child bleeds and equally a Palestinian mother the same pain when an Israeli child bleeds.