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Last update - 22:02 17/02/2009
Obama officials meet U.S. Jews to explain their Durban II policy
By Shlomo Shamir and Raphael Ahren, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: human rights, durban, obama 

Officials from the Obama administration met with U.S. Jewish leaders on Monday to explain why the government has decided to participate in planning the controversial World Conference Against Racism, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

Jerusalem fears that the "Durban II" summit, set to be held in Geneva this April, will be used by Arab nations and others as a forum to criticize Israel as was its predecessor in 2001.

The closed-door talks were led by the White House and the State Department, according to the JTA, and the content of the meeting was off-the-record.
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The meeting was held after the State Department sent a high-level team to an informal preparatory session in Geneva this week, but declared that a "change in direction" was required before it could commit to full participation in the April meeting.

"If you are not engaged, you don't have a voice," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said on Tuesday.

"We wanted to put forward our view and see if there is some way we can make the document a better document than it appears it is going to be," he said. "That does not mean, however, that we will take part in future meetings or indeed in the conference itself."

Delegates to the talks on Monday told the JTA they were organized to give the Jewish leaders a chance to voice their concerns and for the Obama administration to explain its policy about the controversial event.

The decision to attend the planning sessions sparked some criticism from Jewish groups but drew praise from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who urged all member states "to engage constructively on all the outstanding issues" at the conference.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the Durban process was biased against Israel.

"While we understand the pressure on the U.S. to go to Geneva, we urge America not to participate in a fatally flawed UN racism conference that demonizes Israel by singling it out for condemnation," he said.

U.S. human rights organizations have been urging the Obama administration to engage in the conference in order to tackle the issues that will be discussed during the meeting.

Human Rights First, the leading human rights organization in the U.S., on Tuesday issued a statement welcoming Obama's intention of participating in the summit.

"We urge the administration to work to ensure that the conference advances rather than undermines the protection of fundamental rights, and to engage with others to press for that outcome," the statement reads.

"This session provides an opportunity for the United States to lead efforts to address problems with language proposed for the current draft of the outcome document," said the statement. "The United States should also encourage states to review the implementation of their international commitments to combat racism. Although this is the stated purpose of the conference, states have put in very little effort so far to engage in any meaningful review."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday appealed to the U.S. not to participate in the UN-sponsored conference. Speaking before a delegation of visiting American Jewish leaders, Livni said that "Israel expects the free world not to participate in Durban II."

Israel and Canada have announced they are boycotting the April 20-24 conference in Geneva, a follow-up to an acrimonious meeting in 2001. Canada said the conference was likely to descend into anti-Semitism while Israel said it would be an "anti-Israel tribunal".

European Union (EU) countries including Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands are under pressure from Jewish lobbies to follow suit. But they have stayed engaged while struggling to tone down a final UN text to be issued by the conference, diplomats say.

The 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban was meant to lay down a blueprint for nations to address sensitive issues.

Israel and the United States walked out in protest over a draft text branding Israel as a racist and apartheid state, language that was later dropped.

Related articles:
  • Abraham Foxman / Durban: Not again
  • Ignoring Durban summit not an option
  • AJC leader urges Israel to give 'Durban 2' conference a chance
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      1.   Obama and the Jews 20:02  |  Dave 17/02/09
      2.   Duban and Obama and his group 20:05  |  Connie 17/02/09
      3.   DELETED BY MODERATOR 20:12  |  Labhras 17/02/09
      4.   Not allowed to call a spade a spade, apparently 20:43  |  David 17/02/09
      5.   OBAMA 00:39  |  The Teacher/Instruct 18/02/09
      6.   #3 "Labhras" 00:53  |  Dr. Stewart 18/02/09
      7.   2Bush was a Fool so Obama needn`t emulate him 00:58  |  lydia 18/02/09
      8.   To Labhras 01:31  |  Proud Jew 18/02/09
      9.   Don`t count on Obama 01:37  |  Nechama 18/02/09
      10.   How many Jews live in Jordan? 01:38  |  Great White North 18/02/09
      11.   Durban and Obama 01:41  |  Concerned American 18/02/09
      12.   West Bank Is "Palestine" Not Apartheid 04:38  |  Laguna Geno 18/02/09
      13.   response to # 1 05:15  |  ayf 18/02/09
      14.   Durban I 05:49  |  Dee 18/02/09
      15.   Denial is not non-Existence 06:16  |  Rasmuncher 18/02/09
      16.   Obama, when it get`s rough, will not support israel 06:24  |  dudu 18/02/09
      17.   To Dee 06:24  |  Proud Jew 18/02/09
      18.   # 11 Dee Did you read the statement and see the You Tube Video? 07:45  |  John Q. Public 18/02/09
      19.   It`s far worse, it`s an existential threat to Israel... 07:59  |  BBSNews 18/02/09
      20.   #16 Gaza Conflict is Irrelevant to Durban Conference 09:04  |  John Q. Public 18/02/09
      21.   6 Day War and Resolution 242, 4th try 09:44  |  Sceptic 18/02/09
      22.   Resolution 242 and refugee problem, 4th try 09:45  |  Sceptic 18/02/09
      23.   Durban is an affront to Human Dignity 10:36  |  Jordan 18/02/09
      24.   242 and a right to secure peace, 4th try 10:59  |  Sceptic 18/02/09
      25.   Thank you Dr Stewart for your balanced message 11:00  |  Israeli citizen 18/02/09
      26.   As always, Israel versus human rights groups...... 11:11  |  Swiss (Dino) 18/02/09
      27.   The Teacher/Instruct 11:22  |  Haris 18/02/09
      28.   Durban II and black liberation church 11:45  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/02/09
      29.   #2, Connie 11:47  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/02/09
      30.   ISRAEL IS NO LONGER IN THE CENTER OF US POLICY 12:25  |  Indrajaya 18/02/09
      31.   Another copy pasted abstract 14:11  |  Sceptic 18/02/09
      32.   #28 Durban 2? is thisd a joke...or what? 14:39  |  Kathy 18/02/09
      33.   #11 If so concerned, American, 16:02  |  Lynn 18/02/09
      34.   @ 14 Dee....yes, and the NGOs sure put 16:07  |  Lynn 18/02/09
      35.   Opportunity 16:55  |  utagawa 18/02/09
      36.   Withdrawal only strengthens "Boycott Israel" idea 17:04  |  Manny Goldstein 18/02/09
      37.   Human rights bias of some neutral observers, 3rd try 17:42  |  Sceptic 18/02/09
      38.   "Israel as a racist and apartheid state" 17:52  |  d 18/02/09
      39.   #35 utagawa`s Opportunity....Yes but! 18:12  |  Kathy 18/02/09
      40.   #26 Swiss....when you support racism 18:20  |  Lynn 18/02/09
      41.   Answervto #4, and Israel Being An Apartheid State 19:22  |  Michael 18/02/09
      42.   Go to Durban II. See the racism first hand. 19:29  |  MichaelF 18/02/09
      43.   Jordan: "Durban an affrront to human dignity" 20:33  |  Sel 18/02/09
      44.   Obama is a mensch 21:25  |  no justice/no peace 18/02/09
      45.   To d#38, is it a joke 21:30  |  Sceptic 18/02/09
      46.   The Obama Agenda 05:13  |  MichaelF 19/02/09
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