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Conference of Presidents Calls on U.S. and Other Countries to Follow Lead of Canada, Israel in Declaring They Will Not Participate in 2011 Celebration of 'Durban I'
New York, December 27, 2010 … The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations called on the United States and other countries to follow the lead of Canada and Israel in declaring they will not participate in the 2011 celebration of ‘Durban I,’ which the General Assembly of the United Nations voted to be held this coming September, on the second day of the General Assembly’s sixty-sixth session.
On Friday, December 24th, the General Assembly adopted a resolution, by a vote of 104 to 22, with 33 abstentions, to hold a one-day high-level meeting during the opening of the General Assembly to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 2001 Durban conference.
“The vote of the UN General Assembly, while not unexpected, sets the stage for a celebration of the outrageous events that took place during Durban I, which were permeated by manifestations of bigotry and hatred. The event is scheduled to be held shortly after the 10th anniversary commemoration of September 11th. It is hard to imagine a more insensitive action, recalling that the attack on the World Trade Center that killed thousands was carried out by those influenced by the same hateful ideologies that Durban I came to represent,” said Conference of Presidents Chairman Alan Solow and Executive Vice Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein.
“We salute Canada for its decision early on not to participate in this event, which is mandated to be a commemoration of the 2001 conference. That conference violated the lofty goals for which it was created. We thank the 20 other countries that sided with Israel and voted against this resolution, including the United States and the United Kingdom. We urge all countries to join Canada and Israel in publicly declaring that they will not participate in this event, so as to make clear that the hatred, bigotry and racism against America and the West and the international campaign to undermine Israel that was launched at the Durban I conference will not be tolerated. Those countries that walked out on Durban I can certainly not participate in an event that celebrates it,” the leaders said.
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The draft resolution on follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (document A/65/454) [Durban 3] was adopted by a recorded vote of 104 in favor to 22 against, with 33 abstentions, as follows:
In favour: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Against: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Netherlands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom, United States.
Abstain: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Samoa, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tonga, Ukraine.
Absent: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.
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