Israel intends to boycott next UN racism conference
Ma'an News
07 Agosto 2008
JERUSALEM: Israel's delegate to the United Nations organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Itzhak Levanon, said on Wednesday that Israel intends to boycott the next UN World Conference Against Racism because they expect it to be another "international bashing of Israel."
Levanon said that Israel expects this conference to be like the previous one held in Durban in 2001, and that the Israeli government believes the conference is being used as a platform to discredit Israel and incite against it.
The conference is scheduled for April 2009 in Geneva, and Libya is chairing preparations for the conference.
Israel and the US withdrew from the 2001 conference after deliberations focused on Israel and a resolution equating Zionism with racism was debated. The final conference declaration did not include this language, but did refer to the desperate plight of Palestinians.
Source > Ma'an News