Britain will work to keep' Durban III' free of hate
By James Martin 
6th January 2011
Totally Jewish.com
http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=15509 \t _blank http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=15509

Britain this week said it would be working to ensure a UN event marking the 10th anniversary of a notorious anti-racism conference does not provide a platform for offensive rhetoric and behaviour. 
The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly two weeks ago to hold a summit in New York, a decade after another UN event in the South African city of Durban descended into an Israel-bashing forum. 

Israel and Canada have already announced that they would not take part in an event linked to the Durban process and there were calls for other countries to follow suit. But a foreign office spokesman told the Jewish News that the government will for the moment reserve judgement on whether to attend the summit, which has been dubbed Durban III. 

We have not yet made a decision on whether the UK will participate. We will work closely with partners to ensure the meeting addresses all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, and does not provide a platform for the type of offensive rhetoric and behaviour that undermined the World Conference Against Racism in 2001 in Durban as well as the 2009 Durban Review Conference, said the spokesman.

He added: We will keep our position on participation and representation under review as a result of these efforts. 

Britain and America were last month among the countries to vote against the 10th anniversary resolution. The Foreign Office spokesman said: In light of the 2009 Review Conference we felt the proposed size and scope of the 2011 event was inappropriate.

Zionist Federation chief executive Alan Aziz had earlier said: The UK and the rest of Europe should not participate and should be strong enough to stand up and say this from the start.

Last week, the Jewish News revealed that community leaders from a number of organisations, including the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council, have joined forces to tackle the issue under the umbrella of the Jewish Human Rights Coalition-UK. 

A spokesperson said: The precise configuration of the event remains unclear. However, given the history of the Durban process, it is hard to see any circumstances under which it would be appropriate for the UK to participate. We will be making this clear to the Government.

Fears that the Durban Review Conference in 2009, a follow-up to the original 2001 event, could single out the Jewish state led to a boycott by ten countries. Delegates from many nations that did attend staged a walkout, led by Britain, during an address by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.