Looks like Obama has come to his senses regarding the hatefest that will be Durban II. The U.S. is pulling out.
The Obama administration has decided to boycott the so-called Durban II conference out of concerns for anti-Semitism.
Multiple sources on a conference call with the White House on Friday told JTA that the Obama administration had opted not to attend any further preparatory meetings ahead of the planned U.N. conference against racism in Geneva in April.
The conference reprises the 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa that devolved into an anti-Jewish free-for-all. Canada and Israel have opted not to attend the conference, and some U.S. Jewish groups had been pressing the United States to do the same.
Preparations for a draft document so far have seen Iran leading a coterie of nations blocking inclusion of anything that might guarantee Jewish protections – including mention of the Holocaust – while inserting draconian language guarding Islam against “insult.”
Well, there goes my subject for next week’s SNN. Now I need to find a new one.
Perhaps the Saudi Lobby will make a nice substitute.
As an optimist, I would like to think that this was the plan all along. In other words, failing to participate at all would leave the proceedings further under the radar and leave the U.S. vulnerable to claims that it never gave the conference a chance, etc. Sitting in and then withdrawing should serve both to call more attention to what a hatefest this is and to increase the pressure on EU participants to withdraw.
I’m glad that they are pulling out. Hopefully, this will not be his last good decision.
Drew, I would love it if your theory were true, and I hope it is, but wow, I have a hard time believing there are any adults at State or in the Administration these days. Guess I’m not an optimist! An interesting thesis to consider though…