The United Nations Conference Against Racism will be held in Durban for the twentieth time this year, serving as a forum for anti-Semitic and anti-Israel messages.
Hungary was the first EU member state to announce its absence from the United Nations this year. Writes Neukohn, citing the Jerusalem Post. The Israeli newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto as saying in a letter to Mark Weitzman, one of the heads of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the reasons for the boycott.
The Hungarian government has declared zero tolerance for anti-Semitism and is fully committed to ensuring the security of the Jewish people – and we consistently represent this in international forums as well.”
Szijjártó Books. He added that based on this, Hungary did not support the Durban Declaration, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the end of last year.
As the Israeli newspaper reports, several countries – including the United States, Canada, Italy, Australia, Israel and Germany – boycotted the event in previous years. In 2011, a total of 14 countries demonstrated in this way against the event in the South African city.
The first draft of the conference manifesto was an equation between Zionism and racism, which immediately led to the withdrawal of the United States and Israel. In the end, the section on Zionism was deleted from the draft, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained the only example cited. “Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia” In the forum list.
Last week, the United Kingdom announced that, like the United States, Canada and Australia, it would not attend the conference in September. Moreover, according to press reports, France will soon announce its absence, and a representative of German foreign affairs recently said that the case was not finally decided in Berlin either.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said earlier this month that an alternative conference was scheduled to address the challenges posed by racism.
OPTIONAL PHOTO: Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik/AFP
