After months of bitter political bickering, delegates at the third UN conference against racism began discussions last night aimed at overcoming inter-state divisions on several major issues.
The global gathering in South Africa opened yesterday with a call from the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, for states to stop wrangling and get down to working to tackle racism.
The conference has been dogged by an ongoing stand-off between the US and Arab nations over Arab demands for delegates from more than 150 states to denounce as racist Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the Middle East.
The US has downgraded its delegation in protest at this proposal. It says its objective in attending the event, which it had earlier threatened to boycott, is to have the "offensive language" about Israel removed from the text due to be adopted by the conference.
The US delegation did not take its allocated seats at yesterday's opening ceremony in the main hall of the International Convention Centre in Durban. A spokeswoman for the US embassy in South Africa said the US delegation's objective was to "come here and get the offensive language eliminated, and the work to do that goes on as much in the hallways as behind closed doors".
The US civil rights campaigner, the Rev Jesse Jackson, who is attending the conference, criticised the American position. He said he was not surprised that the US government had decided to "lead from behind" when the rest of the world was working together.
The US already had boycotted the two previous world conferences against racism in 1978 and 1983 over disputes about the Middle East.
In his opening address, Mr Annan said the Jewish people had been the victims of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, and it was understandable that many Jews resented accusations that the state of Israel was racist. "This is all the more so when it coincides with indiscriminate and totally unacceptable attacks on innocent civilians," he added.
However, the Palestinians could not be expected to "accept this as a reason why the wrongs done to them - displacement, occupation, blockade and now extra-judicial killings - should be ignored, whatever label one uses to describe them".
Mutual accusations are not the purpose of this conference, he said. "Our main objective must be to improve the lot of victims. Let us admit that all countries have issues of discrimination and racism to address.
"Rather than pick on any one country or region, let us aim to leave here with a commitment from every country to draw up and implement its own national plan to combat racism, in accordance with the general principles that we will have agreed."
The ceremonial opening of the conference began with a performance by ballet dancers in richly coloured outfits, with green laser lights illuminating the cavernous amphitheatre. A minute's silence was observed as a mark of respect for the father of the South African President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, who died this week.
In his address as host of the conference, Mr Mbeki urged delegates to redress the indignity and humiliation suffered by people "because they are not white". "Our common humanity dictates that as we rose against apartheid racism, so must we combine to defeat the consequences of slavery, colonialism and racism which, to this day, continue to define the lives of billions of people who are brown and black as lives of hopelessness."
Mr Mbeki quoted blues singers who described the world as "all right if you're white; if you're brown, stick around; if you're black, oh brother, get back, get back, get back."
Mrs Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the conference could mark a historic breakthrough in the struggle against racism if it could reach agreement on language that recognised historic injustices and expressed deep remorse for the crimes of the past.
"If we can do that it will connect with millions of people worldwide and affirm their human dignity. It will connect in the way that poetry connects and will be heard by that inner ear."
After the official speeches, government officials broke up into two working groups last night to finalise the two texts to be agreed by delegates: an antiracism declaration and a programme of action.
Progress has been slow in resolving differences on elements of these documents in pre-conference gatherings. Some 71 out of 131 paragraphs in the draft declaration remain to be agreed, as well as up to 150 commitments in the programme of action. Delegates from the US and Israel last night attended working groups, which will continue during next week.
It is thought likely that informal working groups will be set up to deal with the three main contentious issues in these documents: the Middle East, calls for reparations and apologies for slavery, and references to the types of discrimination faced by victims.
The conference remains split over demands by some African countries for apologies and reparations from former colonial powers and nations that once conducted the transatlantic slave trade. The United States and European countries fear that an apology could lead to compensation claims in court. Talks are now expected to focus on a collective statement of regret and development aid for Africa.
A potentially damaging disagreement over the issue of compensation was averted yesterday after last-minute negotiations during a break in the opening session. There had been concerns that some Western states might oppose a reference in the conference agenda to compensatory measures for victims of racism. But delegates accepted a proposal that the use of the word compensatory would not prejudice the outcome of the conference.
Meanwhile, outside the conference up to 18,000 protesters held a rally demanding action on a variety of causes. The crowd included South Africans demanding redistribution of land and compensation for torture and slavery, as well as pro-Palestinian groups.
Riot police were out in force, with armoured vehicles and a water cannon positioned at the perimeter of the enclosed conference zone. Police said no incidents were reported as the marchers handed in a list of demands to the South African government and chanted "Amandla" - Power to the people.