International

US, Israel Lead Boycott of UN Racism Initiative

The United States has pulled out of a United Nations conference on racism that kicks off in Geneva on Monday. The US State Department attributed the decision to the use of objectionable language in the draft declaration for the meet.

Spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. will boycott the conference “with regret” because of objectionable language in the meeting’s draft declaration.

He added that despite some improvements, it was clear that declaration will not address US concerns over restrictions on freedom of expression.

He, however, reiterated Washington’s commitment to “work with all people and nations” to bring racism and discrimination to an end.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement Sunday that Canberra has also decided to boycott the conference, he said that Australia was concerned that the meeting would be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views.
Canada and the Netherlands and Israel have also decided to skip the conference.

The five-day meeting is a follow-up to a 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel walked out of those talks over an attempt by some participants to link Zionism with racism.

UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, says she is “shocked and deeply disappointed” by Washington’s decision.

“A handful of states have permitted one or two issues to dominate their approach to this issue, allowing them to outweigh the concerns of numerous groups of people that suffer racism and similar forms of intolerance to a pernicious and life-damaging degree on a daily basis all across the world,” she said in a statement.

While the US is concerned of the meeting being used as a platform to express anti-Semitic views, several Muslim nations have repeatedly called for curbs to prevent what they say are insults to Islam.

In 2006, riots erupted across the Muslim world against the “blasphemous” cartoon of the prophet published by a Danish newspaper.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has raised concerns by questioning whether the Holocaust happened and has said that Israel should be wiped off the map, is expected to attend the conference.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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