Boycott the hatefest 

February 15,  2008
The Daily News 
Original Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/02/15/2008-02-15_boycott_the_hatefest.html
The U.S. took a historic step in December by voting against the United Nations budget on the ground that a small portion would pay for a conference destined to become a platform for anti-Semitism and the vilification of Israel.
The vote was a powerful moral statement that America wanted no association with a perversion of the world body's mission. Disgracefully, the General Assembly nonetheless bestowed official blessing on the so-called Durban II meeting.
And, now, the State Department has abandoned this forthright commitment to fairness and decency. Secretary of State Rice has refused to say what she should say:
The U.S. will not participate in, lend its prestige to or squander its moral authority by participating in a replay of the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.
Wonderfully, America's neighbor to the north has charted the right course.
We'll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and intolerance, not those that actually promote racism and intolerance, said Jason Kenney, a Canadian government minister, accurately summing up the depravities in store for the world when Durban II convenes next year.
Canada's clarity put Rice's stance to shame. Testifying in the Senate on Wednesday, she said, We have not tried to make a final decision on this. Previously, the department's special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism had said, It will be left to the decision of the succeeding administration.
Such diplo-dallying serves only to erode the high ground America has held since 2001, when then-Secretary of State Colin Powell refused to attend Durban I and the delegation he sent walked out. They had no choice.
Of all the countries on the planet, among which far too many are guilty of human rights violations, the conference condemned only one nation as supposedly racist: Israel.
Durban II is billed as a review of the conference's findings, and again the proceedings are heavily controlled by Israel's foes in the Islamic world.
Planning is under the aegis of members of the UN Human Rights Council, a body that, too, focuses its energies on a single country: Israel. The council has issued 15 resolutions in the past two years. Fourteen have attacked Israel, while Sudan, North Korea, China and myriad certified human rights abusers have gotten a pass.
Clearly, the deck is stacked. And it is wrong for Rice to pretend that, with cajoling and good thoughts, Durban II might just work out nicely. With Libya and Cuba serving as chair and vice chair of the conference, and Iran on the organizing committee, the event is doomed to become a propaganda playground for thugocracies.
The U.S. should stand tall and refuse to participate - now.