B’nai B’rith International lauds Austria which, according to a report from The Jerusalem Post, chose to not participate in the 10th anniversary commemoration of the World Conference against Racism at the United Nations in September in New York citing “doubts about the content and direction of the conference.”

The upcoming event will commemorate the 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa, whose intention was to address and combat racism. It was instead reduced to a racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate fest, which further isolated the Jewish state in the international community.

The 2009 Durban Review Conference, which featured Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a speaker, only furthered the vilification of Israel. 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 disdain of the ideals it claims to represent.

Austria joins the ranks of Canada, Israel, the United States, the Czech Republic, Italy, The Netherlands and Australia in their decision not to attend the conference. B’nai B’rith calls on other nations to follow their example in standing together against an event that promotes intolerance and bigotry.