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B’nai B’rith International commends France and New Zealand for their decision to boycott the commemoration of the World Conference against Racism at the United Nations this week in New York.

The event will mark the 10th anniversary of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which was held in Durban, South Africa. Though intended to combat racism worldwide, the conference was reduced to a racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate fest. This was followed in 2009 by a review conference in Geneva at which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke.

The conferences’ initial goal of addressing and combating racism has been replaced by attempts to isolate Israel in the international community, only furthering the denigration of the Jewish state.

This year’s commemoration, by affirming the original Durban Declaration and Programme of Action that had singled out Israel for implied characterization as racist, can unfortunately be expected to yield similar disregard for the ideals it purports to embody.

France and New Zealand join the ranks of the United States, Israel, Canada, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy and The Netherlands in their decision not to attend the conference.

The B’nai B’rith Board of Governors passed a resolution earlier this year urging all nations to reject the prejudiced objectives of the World Conference. B’nai B’rith calls upon other nations to stand united against this event that promotes racism and intolerance.