WCAR: April 25th UN Durban II Protest: StandWithUs

Earlier today On April 25th New York City University students protested the 2009 Geneva UN Durban II conference (WCAR), for failing to truly address the crises around the world in need of intervention (such as the genocide attrocities in Darfur & Burma) and instead giving platform to raging lunatics AKA Ahmadinejad. 

A friend of mine from NYU, Zach Novetsky was sent to the Durban II Review Conference as a member of a delegation of the European Union of Jewish Students. I myself almost went as a student representative with the American Jewish Committee, as the Vice President of the NYU-AJC Society. 

While Zach Novetsky attended the conference which started April 19th and continued through yesterday April 24th, he was reporting for the Jersulam post via blogging, and also kept his own personal world press blog called Durban Debacle.

Although i didn't fly to Geneva Switzerland, i was following the convention via twitter updates, blogs such as AJC, JPost, Durban Debacle, and the main news media reports via CNN, BBC, and New York Times.

What was incredible about this protest outside the UN this morning however, is that i was one of the core organizers, alongside Daniel Klein from Stand with US, Ari Grazi a junior at NYU and a few other students from other New York City universities such as Queens College who collaborated with Zach while he was in Geneva using facebook, email exchanges, and AIM. Within 48 hours we were able to get over 400 people to respond on facebook and circulate it to necessary people. Orchestrating such a protest truly proved the "power of the Media" the core of our discussions all semester. It was incredible to meet everyone this morning who i didn't even know, but had talked to over the phone and emailed back and forth.

Click to View FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

The turnout was rather successful, and we stood across from the UN, peacefully protesting, and then marched in a single file line in front of the UN flags at the main entrance.

Check out an additional post that will include a video that was taken. I was photographing while there.

© Hila Raz 2009