AJC Praises Austria for Decision to Skip "Durban 3"

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Sep 01, 2011, 10:39 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC praised Austria for withdrawing from participation in the tenth anniversary commemoration of the UN World Conference on Racism. The event, commonly known as Durban 3, will take place at the UN in New York on September 22.

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"Austria's decision is particularly significant because it had participated in the first two UN conferences on racism, in Durban in 2001, and Geneva in 2009," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The 2001 gathering became infamous for the toxic atmosphere of raw anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment expressed by some governments and NGOs. Other countries thought they could put the conference back on its original course, but found it impossible to do so. Against that backdrop, we applaud Austria for reaching its principled position."

The Austrian decision, announced by Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Schallenberg, was first reported yesterday in The Jerusalem Post. Austria has "doubts about the content and direction of the conference," said Schallenberg, explaining Austria's decision to skip the event.

Austria becomes the eighth nation -- and fourth EU member state -- to opt out of Durban 3. The others so far are Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States.

"Those nations that have decided not to participate understand clearly that this UN initiative, originally conceived to contribute to the struggle against racism, had been hijacked at its inception ten years ago by those seeking to turn it into yet another forum for bashing Israel, Zionism and Jews," said Harris. "Our earnest hope is that other democratic nations will reach a similar conclusion as Austria did, thereby further denying this month's gathering the legitimacy it seeks but most assuredly does not deserve."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee