NCSJ - 03.02.2009

NCSJ Praises U.S. Non-participation in Durban Review Conference

CONTACT: Mark Levin, NCSJ
(202) 898-2500; mlevin@ncsj.org

WASHINGTON -- NCSJ commends the decision of the Obama administration to withdraw U.S. participation from the UN World Conference against Racism in April.

The Administration announced its decision Friday, in the wake of the recent return by a U.S. delegation from preparatory meetings in Geneva. Efforts to remove or delete hateful anti-Israel wording in the upcoming conference’s central policy document proved unavailing, and the U.S. delegation determined no further hope existed for improving the language in the draft document.

The United States joins Israel and Canada among the nations that will boycott the conference.

NCSJ Chairman Richard Stone called the U.S. decision to withdraw from the conference “a clear signal to the international community that the United States will not be part of the conference’s efforts to legitimize anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. The 200l Durban World Conference against Racism deteriorated into a campaign against Israel. We applaud the Administration for not furthering this travesty.”

NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, founded in 1971, represents the organized American Jewish community in monitoring and advocating on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews living in the 15 successor states of the former Soviet Union.