Peace and quiet outside of UN during controversial Durban conference

• Author: HALEY COHEN
• Published date: 23 September 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

But outside of the UN headquarters in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, passersby would have no idea such a controversial event was taking place inside, if not for the road closures and heavy FBI and NYPD security as dozens of world leaders converge on the city.

The bustling Turtle Bay streets were no louder than a typical weekday in the city, and there were no major or violent protests.

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"I expected so much more chaos and constant protests," said Julia Arber, 22, a dancer who lives a block from the UN.

"I'm familiar with Durban and would expect it to cause antisemitic demonstrations. Some people have been handing me fliers but nothing has really caught my attention," she continued. "I do have to show my ID all week to get on to my block though, which has been weird."

This week is the first United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) since Arber moved to the neighborhood. "It's pretty cool to see everybody," she said, adding that anti-Israel protests could intensify later in the week, as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is slated to speak at the assembly on September 27.

Ali, a doorman in a Second Avenue high-rise for the past 22 years, just steps away from the UN headquarters, told The Jerusalem Post the week started out full of protests, but by Wednesday the area was quiet.

He wasn't aware of the Durban IV conference.

"The protests that I did see, I couldn't even understand what they were screaming," he said. "I'm just doing my job. It doesn't really affect me."

Several diplomats approached leaving the conference declined to speak with the Post.

Leading up to Durban IV, under the banner: "Fight Racism, Not Jews: The UN and the Durban Deceit," Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey, Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and others spoke at a conference on Sunday organized by Touro College, Human Rights Voices and CAMERA, in a powerful head-on plea to countries to pull out of the Durban IV conference and to stand up to today's antisemitism...