Obama Administration to Help Plan Durban II

The first United Nations conference on “racism” held in Durban, South Africa, turned into an incredibly vile display of antisemitic hatred, notorious as one of the worst travesties in the UN’s travesty-filled history. The Bush administration walked out of it.

And now the Obama administration is planning to participate in the next one: US to help plan ‘Durban 2’ conference.

The Obama administration said late Saturday it would participate in planning for a UN conference on racism dubbed ‘Durban 2’ despite concerns the meeting will be used by Arab nations and others to demonize Israel.

The State Department said it would send diplomats next week to participate in preparatory meetings for the World Conference Against Racism, which is set to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in April and which some countries including Israel have already decided to boycott. In a statement released late Saturday, the State Department said the US delegation to the planning discussions would review “current direction of conference preparations and whether US participation in the conference itself is warranted.”

“This will be the first opportunity the (Obama) administration has had to engage in the negotiations for the Durban Review, and - in line with our commitment to diplomacy - the US has decided to send a delegation to engage in the negotiations on the text of the conference document,” the department said. “The intent of our participation is to work to try to change the direction in which the review conference is heading,” it said. “We hope to work with other countries that want the Conference toresponsibly and productively address racism around the world.”