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Pro-Palestinian protestors marching through Durban during a UN conference on racism in 2001.
Last update - 17:28 24/04/2008
Iran said trying to ban Canada Jewish group from anti-racism meet
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel, racism, Durban 

Iran is seeking to block a top Canadian Jewish group from receiving accreditation for a major international conference on racism next year, according to a Toronto newspaper.

According to the report in the Toronto Star, Iran claimed that the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) was not a non-profit organization and had "made no significant contribution to fighting racism."

The newspaper says that the CIJA, which describes itself as "a non-partisan, umbrella organization for Jewish community advocacy efforts," has called these claims "abolutely wrong."
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According to The Star, the CIJA made a "routine application" for accreditation, which this week became the target of "hours of heated debate at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva, with Iran leading the charge, backed by Egypt and other Muslim countries, and the European Union defending."

The newspaper quotes a spokesman for the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which processes the applications, as saying that the CIJA application was initially approved, but that "states have the liberty to make objections."

He called the affair "confusing and divisive."

The CIJA now has until next Monday, the report says, to counter the claims made against it. If the issue cannot be resolved, the paper says, the group's attendance will be decided in a vote by all member states.

The CEO of the group, Hershell Ezrin, called Tehran's actions "deplorable." He said that the group will provide documents to counter the objections by Iran.

The World Conference Against Racism is set to take place in 2009, although the exact date and location have yet to be determined. It will be chaired by Libya and co-chaired by Cuba. Israel and the U.S. have conditioned their participation on guarantees the event will not be a rerun of the 2001 Durban anti-racism conference, in which Israel was vilified.

The 2001 conference was dominated by anti-Israel attacks during concurrent meetings by non-governmental organizations. These attacks included accusations that Israel practiced apartheid, that Zionism is racism, and that the Holocaust was not a unique event but similar to other events in history.

Canada has declined to attend the 2009 conference, and, The Star says, has branded the conference a "gong show."

In a bid to prevent a similar controversy at the 2009 conference, NGOs will only be granted observer status.

Iran and Canada have been at diplomatic loggerheads for five years, since the death of Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi in custody in Tehran in 2003. Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for Israel's destruction and often questioned whether the Holocaust took place.

Related articles:
  • Israel, U.S. to coordinate on boycott of Durban II conference
  • Abe Foxman / Durban: Not again
  • AJC leader urges Israel to give 'Durban 2' conference a chance
  • Canada row with Iran heats up over push for arrest of Iranian official

    Related links:
  • The Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy
  • UN anti-racism conference Web site
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