It seems president Bush forbid secretary of State Colin Powell (an African American) to go to Durban because of a language problem.
For years, I've heard "antisionism" is not the same at all as "antisemitism", but it seems a delicate issue.
Also, Germany asked for forgiveness to the Jews, after WWII and everybody felt much better towards each other ever since. De Gaulle extended his hand to Adenauer after WWII, and France and Germany became the best of allies. In the Balkans, between the Serbs, the Croats and the Islamic communities, this psychological "asking for forgiveness" issue is still not dealt with and they go on living close to each other with full hatred.
True, my uncle was a Colonialist in the Belgian Congo and he would say the Africans were much better off during the colonization. However, self-determination (and no interference from alien countries) is much much more important in any former colony than living standards. It's a matter of dignity and recognition.
I find it quite revealing how some Americans can show so much hatred towards international organisations that try to cope with cultural, racial, religious differences. There never were so many democracies around the world as since the fall of the Berlin wall. Shouldn't this be an indication of the failure of communism? Shouldn't this be encouraging to the US?
Is it the right moment to show its dissatisfaction, even though the US is the undisputed number one power in the world? I don't know, but to drop those matters (like dealing fairly with the Middel-East issue) isn't serving the international policies of the US.
And there is a whole world out there and billions of people who don't live in the US, nor think like Americans. I always heard these differences was what made mankind so rich in its diversities.

Raoul