A FIRST: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PARTICIPATES IN UN GROUP CHARGED WITH IMPLEMENTING NOTORIOUS UN DURBAN DECLARATION

For the first time, the Obama administration is now a part of the implementation process of the antisemitic UN Durban Conference. Although the U.S. walked out of the notorious Durban conference in 2001 in disgust, and has boycotted the second and third follow-up Durban conferences, American diplomats are now participating in the "Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action" in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Working Group was established by the Commission on Human Rights in its Resolution 2002/68 with a mandate to "Make recommendations with a view to the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.' It is one of the several follow up mechanisms created after the 2001 Durban Conference (Durban I), held in Durban, South Africa, which produced the infamous Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA). The DDPA charges Israel with racism and names no other state in the world. The Durban Review Conference (Durban II), held in Geneva, Switzerland in April 2009, was headlined by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who used the occasion to deny Holocaust and call for the destruction of Israel. In 2011 during the 10th anniversary of the DDPA (Durban III) in New York City the UN adopted a declaration which reaffirmed the original anti-Israel document adopted in 2001.

The opening statement from the Obama administration on April 7, 2014, in Geneva, included the following: "The United States normally does not participate in this working group because of our significant and well-known concerns about the Durban Declaration and Program of Action. That said, we are always ready to find common ground with others in the effort to combat racism, bigotry, and racial discrimination... We look forward to working constructively with you."

The new Obama administration policy on the Durban Declaration might be summarized as attempting to combat bigotry by implementing a document intended to promote bigotry.