March 19th, 2009 by NGO Monitor Staff | Category: Durban Review Conference

Israel rejects revised draft of Durban II statement, Haaretz, March 18, 2009

A senior Foreign Ministry source said Wednesday that Israel rejects the latest draft of the closing statement for the “Durban 2″ anti-racism conference, despite revisions aimed at dropping direct criticism of Israel.

While all direct references to Israel and the Israel-Palestinian conflict have been removed in an attempt to keep the European Union from boycotting, it still implicitly singles out Israel.

“The first clause in the new document reaffirms the declaration of ‘Durban 1,’ which calls Israel a racist state, and the change is cosmetic only. The essence remains the same,” the official said. “This is a diplomatic ruse intended to blur matters and introduce criticism of Israel by the back door.”

By contrast, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said (Revised text raises hopes for successful UN anti-racism summit, says official, UN News Centre, March 18, 2009):

“I really hope that this marks the necessary breakthrough needed to achieve consensus on a text that must offer concrete help to hundreds of groups and millions of individuals who are subjected to racism and other forms of intolerance all across the world,”…She urged all States to refrain from taking “narrow politicized or polemical stances on particular issues”.