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British Minister for Europe Jim Murphy: “We will continue to work to make sure that the conference is a success, but we will play no part in an international conference that exhibits the degree of anti-Semitism that was disgracefully on view on the previous occasion."
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LONDON (EJP)---British Minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, has threatened to pull out of next year’s Durban review meeting if there is a repeat of anti-Semitism that blighted the 2001 UN world conference against racism.
"The preparatory work (for the review conference) is ongoing, but there should be no repeat of the disgraceful anti-Semitism that blighted events surrounding the 2001 world conference against racism," Murphy told the British parliament on Tuesday.
He was responding to questions posed by MPs John Mann (Labour) and Tim Boswell (Conservative), both members of the all-party inquiry committee into anti-Semitism.
With Libya chairing the (UN racism conference) preparatory committee and Cuba and Iran supporting it as officers, the signs are not too good,” Mann told the Minister.
“We will continue to work to make sure that the conference is a success, but we will play no part in an international conference that exhibits the degree of anti-Semitism that was disgracefully on view on the previous occasion,” Murphy said.
The UN's first World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa, was condemned by the United States, Canada and Israel for descending into anti-Semitism.
The conference took place amid the backdrop of the eruption of the second
Palestinian intifada in the West Bank and Gaza, and ended just days before the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
Earlier this year, Canada announced that it will not attend the "Durban II" conference, saying it is shaping up to be as anti-Semitic and anti-West as the first gathering. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also said that her country will boycott the conference.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that he "will not allow a repetition of the excesses and abuses of 2001," saying his country would leave Durban II if abuses recur at the conference.