Nations Spar Over Host For U.N. Racism Parley

UNITED NATIONS — A fight is brewing in Geneva over the location of an upcoming U.N. conference on racism.

South Africa, which hosted the 2001 U.N. Durban conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and intolerance, is seeking to host a follow-up, scheduled for early 2009, and is calling on other nations to participate. But Canada has said it will skip Durban II, and America and some European countries are considering staying away as well. Israel and its allies are pushing for Durban II to be held in Geneva or New York, saying the anti-Semitic edge that characterized the first conference, which resulted in an American and Israeli walkout, could be averted by such a move. "As far as I know, there is still some discussion taking place as to where that conference would be," President Mbeki of South Africa told The New York Sun at a press conference on Wednesday. He said he "would hope this time around nobody would stay away, because it is a serious problem, the problem of racism, and really, it would be good, if and when that conference is held, wherever it is held, that everybody does attend." But if Israel is to attend, the conference at least must be relocated from Durban, the Israeli U.N. ambassador in Geneva, Yitzhak Levanon, said. "We want to break away from the atmosphere" that characterized the first conference in Durban, he said. As things stand, "We will not attend, because we have no confidence that it would not be a repetition."

"We believe it would be inappropriate to participate in Durban II without confidence that it will avoid the problems of Durban I," Secretary of State Rice said recently, adding, "We have no such confidence."

Neither America nor Israel is represented on a 20-member preparation committee for the conference, which is scheduled to convene Monday in Geneva under the leadership of Libya. The committee will determine the venue, as well as the size of the budget for the conference, though any decision will require the approval of all the member states. America finances just less than a quarter of the U.N. budget.

In a signal that the bias that characterized Durban I is likely to be repeated, Iran is leading a drive to deny accreditation to a human rights advocacy group, the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, according to U.N. Watch.

Canada, the only country so far to announce it will not attend, had "hoped that the preparatory process for the 2009 Durban Review Conference would remedy the mistakes of the past," the Canadian foreign minister, Maxime Bernier, said in January. "We have concluded that, despite our efforts, it will not."