US, Canada, Italy and Israel boycott Durban II Racism Conference

[MikeWB]

Jewish groups praise US for decision to boycott Durban II

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Mar 1, 2009 22:23 | Updated Mar 1, 2009 23:02

By ELAN LUBLINER

Jewish groups have joined in praising the US decision to withdraw from a UN-sponsored conference on racism, and say they hope that European countries will follow suit. Widely called "Durban II," the conference is scheduled for April in Geneva.

In a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League, its national chairman, Glen S. Lewy, said, "We applaud the administration for refusing to participate in a process that would in any way brand Israel as a racist country."

Moishe Smith, president of B'nai B'rith International, said that while the group was "never pleased to walk away from international discussions in critical areas like racism, we credit the Obama administration for its good faith effort."

US President Barack Obama was originally inclined to participate in the World Conference Against Racism, set to open on April 20, and even sent a delegation to Geneva for the preparations. But the US rescinded its involvement when the delegation determined that the conference's proposed draft resolutions would be blatantly anti-Israel and were unable to change the content.

"A conference based on this text would be a missed opportunity to speak clearly about the persistent problem of racism," said Robert Wood, the State Department's spokesman.

The first Durban conference in 2001 was attended by the US and Israel, and both withdrew after just a few days due to the virulently anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic nature of much of its content. Critics have long believed that Durban II would be even worse.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the World Jewish Congress, Betty Ehrenberg, said she hoped that every country would boycott the conference. She specifically cited European countries, such as The Netherlands, Denmark and Italy.

The Polish pro-Israel foundation, Europa 21, is hoping that EU members will feel uncomfortable attending Durban II in the wake of the American withdrawal. The group is currently lobbying prominent political and cultural figures with an anti-Durban II petition, and plans to send letters to Poland's foreign ministry and the European Parliament in hopes of getting more countries to join the boycott.

So far, the US, Canada and Israel are the only countries to have announced that they'll stay away. However, press reports recently quoted a top Western diplomat as having suggested that Britain, The Netherlands and France were also considering a boycott.

Italy pulls out of UN racism conference

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By ARIEL DAVID – 1 day ago

ROME (AP) — Italy said Thursday it is pulling out of a U.N. conference on racism — the latest blow to a meeting seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also decided to postpone a planned trip to Iran in protest over remarks against Israel and the U.S. administration by Tehran's leadership, the ministry said in a statement.

Speaking on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, Frattini said Italy has withdrawn its delegation from the preparatory negotiations ahead of the so-called Durban II conference due to "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements" in the draft of the event's final document.

Frattini's comments on the conference were reported by Italian news agencies and confirmed by foreign ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari, who said Rome would not participate in the conference unless the document was changed.

"There are expressions of anti-Semitism," Massari said by telephone. "Until the document is modified we will not have a part in it."

The United States has imposed similar conditions. Israel and Canada have already announced a boycott.

Italy is the first EU country to officially withdraw from the conference, though other nations have threatened not to attend.

Islamic countries, still angry over cartoons and films attacking Muslims, have been campaigning for wording that would equate criticism of a religious faith with a violation of human rights.

The informal negotiations have proven difficult, with many issues that marked the first U.N. conference on racism in 2001 re-emerging — such as criticism of Israel.

The April 20-25 meeting in Geneva is designed to review progress in fighting racism since the previous summit in South Africa. That meeting was marred by attacks on Israel and anti-Israel demonstrations at a parallel conference of non-governmental organizations.

The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through the conference over a draft resolution that singled Israel out for criticism and likened Zionism — the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state — to racism.

Last week, the Obama administration said the United States will stay away from this year's meeting unless its final document is changed to drop all references to Israel and the defamation of religion.

European nations have expressed hope the summit can go ahead with a final text that is acceptable to all sides.

But they, too, have red lines they say cannot be crossed.

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said in December that his country would walk out unless anti-Israel statements were scrapped. French diplomat Daniel Vosgien said then that his country opposed the idea of banning criticism of religion.

Members of Italy's center-left opposition and Jewish groups abroad praised Rome's move.

"We applaud Italy for its principled decision not to participate in a conference that seems determined to repeat, if not exceed, the disgrace of Durban in 2001," said David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee.

Harris said in a statement he hoped the rest of the EU would join the pullout.

Also on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Rome said Frattini's visit to Tehran was postponed in part because of "unacceptable" statements by Iran's supreme leader.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday accused President Barack Obama of following the same path as the Bush administration with his "unconditional" support of Israel. Khamenei also called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that is on the verge of collapse.

Italy has traditionally good relations with Tehran and Frattini had been invited for talks expected to focus on Afghanistan and regional security issues, the ministry said last month. No date has been set for the trip.

Associated Press writer Frank Jordans contributed to this report from Geneva.

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