MacShane to Hague: 'Pull out of Durban'

By Martin Bright
August 11, 2011
The Jewish Chronicle
http://www.thejc.com/node/53099

A former UK foreign minister has written an open letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague calling on the British government to pull out of next month's conference to mark the tenth anniversary of the Durban declaration on anti-racism. This document singled out Israel as the only perpetrator of human rights abuses.

Denis MacShane, who attended the original conference in South Africa, said the conference and its follow-up in Geneva in 2009 provided a platform for the most egregious expression of Jew-hatred seen on the international stage so far this century.

The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance will take place just as the UN General Assembly considers a possible unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) by the Palestinians.

There is concern in pro-Israel circles that a new statement from the anti-racism conference targeting Israel would provide ammunition to those pressing for Palestinian UDI.

At the same time, UK Jewish leaders are keen not to let Durban III become a distraction from the September vote in the General Assembly. We don't want the government to do the right thing on Durban III and not on UDI, said one senior source.