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B’nai B’rith International issued the following news release:

B’nai B’rith International praises the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Italy for refusing to attend the commemoration of the biased World Conference against Racism at the United Nations in September. The event is set to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first conference, which was rife with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate mongering.

The goal of addressing and combating racism has been replaced by attempts to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state, isolating Israel–furthering its already marginalized position in the world body.

The second conference, which took place in 2009, featured Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a speaker, and only furthered the vilification of Israel. With such a history, this year’s conference cannot be expected to yield different results, and makes a mockery of the ideals it purports to represent.

The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Italy join the ranks of Canada, Israel and the United States in their decision not to participate in the conference. B’nai B’rith is hopeful that other nations will follow their example in standing together against an event that promotes intolerance and bigotry.

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.