Ros-Lehtinen Calls on U.S. and Allies to Fight Isolation of Israel, Not Participate in Durban II

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today commented on the release of a revised "outcome document" for the United Nations Durban Review Conference on Racism (Durban II), to be held in April of 2009. The document reaffirms the entire original Declaration and Program of Action of the first Durban Conference, which was an anti-Semitic hate-filled event. This proposed text singles out Israel for criticism while ignoring those who propagate racism and intolerance, while also aiming to restrict freedom of expression in the name of preventing "Islamophobia." Ros-Lehtinen has urged the U.S. to refrain from attending from Durban II, proposed legislation to prevent U.S. funds from being used in any way to support that conference, and held a meeting in June with foreign diplomats, State Department officials, Members of Congress, human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations to discuss an alternative forum to combat discrimination and intolerance. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

"Even as Israel fights for its life against violent Palestinian extremists in Gaza, enemies of freedom continue to single out the Jewish state for castigation. Iran, Libya, Cuba, and their fellow repressive regimes at the UN continue to deny the Jewish state's right to exist, and they aim, through Durban II and other UN efforts, to prevent Israel from defending itself.

The closer it gets to Durban II's start date, the more clearly we see that the fix is in, and that Durban II has nothing to do with anti-racism and everything to do with attacking Israel and the Jewish people.

Free nations should unite against violent radical Islamists and prevent the further manipulation of the UN to legitimize their extremist agenda. The U.S. and other responsible nations must stand up to the dictatorships that have hijacked much of the UN in general and Durban II in particular. We should, like Canada and Israel, refuse to fund or participate in that hate-fest, and we must lend our legitimacy only to those efforts that truly advance the cause of tolerance and non-discrimination."

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder: 'UN Anti-Racism Conference Must Not Become Another Platform for Spreading Anti-Semitism'

PP Note: Guess the real question is what stance Barack Obama will take? Will this conference be a repeat of the last one where the U.S. walked out? Or will Hillary be happy to sit there with a smile on her face courtesy of her new boss?

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, has praised the minister of foreign affairs of the Netherlands, Maxime Verhagen, for making a clear statement regarding an upcoming United Nations conference on combating racism.

In an interview with Dutch radio, Verhagen had said that his government might boycott a United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva in April 2009 unless anti-Israel statements are removed from official draft documents. "It seems like the sole intention is to criticize Israel and condemn the West for slavery and its colonial history," Minister Verhagen had said, warning of a repeat of the first UN anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, which degenerated into an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel debacle.

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said: "We appreciate the Dutch government's principled stance, and we hope that other democratic countries will take this as an example and make their voice heard as well. The United Nations anti-racism conference must not become yet another platform for spreading anti-Semitism and unfairly singling out Israel for criticism. Sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is high time that the UN live up to its own founding principles!"

Lauder pointed out that any imbalanced conclusion of the UN conference would render the final declaration meaningless and reflect badly on the UN's ability to fulfill the purpose of the Geneva forum. "Avoiding a repeat of Durban I is a crucial litmus test for the UN and its member states," the WJC president said, adding that the World Jewish Congress would continue to lobby governments on this issue.