Washington - At Gillibrand's Urging, U.S. Announces Pull Out From U.N. Durban Iii Summit |
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FILEWashington - The Obama administration confirmed Wednesday in a letter to a U.S. senator that it will boycott a world conference against racism being held at U.N. headquarters in September.
Joseph E. Macmanus, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, wrote in the letter to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand that the United States will not participate in the 10-year commemoration of the 2001 World Conference Against Racism because the Durban process “included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism.”
AP obtained a copy of the letter, sent Wednesday to Gillibrand and other members of Congress.
Macmanus was responding to a letter the senator from New York had sent America’s U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice asking her not to participate in the event.
“In December, we voted against the resolution establishing this event because the Durban process included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism, and we did not want to see that commemorated,” Macmanus wrote.
He added that in 2009 the U.S. withdrew from the planning of the conference because it reaffirmed the 2001 Durban Declaration, “which unfairly singled out Israel and included language inconsistent with U.S. traditions of robust free speech.”
“The United States delegation in New York has not been involved in the formal negotiations on the modalities resolution or the outcome document and has had a notetaker only in these proceedings,” the letter added. “We share your concern about the Durban commemoration’s timing and venue as just days earlier, we will have held solemn ten-year memorials for those murdered in the September 11 terrorist attacks.”
The letter said that the United States is “fully committed to upholding the human rights of all people and to combating racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance, and bigotry.”
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Read Comments (6) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 01, 2011 at 06:49 PM amerikaner Says:Report as Inappropriate
move the un out of america
2
Jun 01, 2011 at 07:06 PM Eli Mandel Says:Report as Inappropriate
B"H.
We should create a public letter thanking our government for taking such a public stance against the Durban/Arab racism which everyone should be able to sign.
3
Jun 01, 2011 at 07:21 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Why is that disaster of a building still in NYC. Get the Freakin thing outta here.
4
Jun 01, 2011 at 10:21 PM I'll Be Watching Says:Report as Inappropriate
I'll be watching the Durban participants REAL closely to see if they even mention, much less condemn the brutal torture and murder of a 13 year old Syrian boy by his own Syrian regime. His scarred, disfigured, bullet-ridden body was just returned to his family one month after he went missing.
Do you think they'll be too closely focused on Israel to pay Assad's abuses any attention?
5
Jun 02, 2011 at 12:05 AM charliehall Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Why is that disaster of a building still in NYC. Get the Freakin thing outta here. ”
For one thing, it creates immense opportunities for intelligence-gathering and back-channel communications. It is a hugely useful tool for the US, and that would not be the case if it went to another country.
6
Jun 02, 2011 at 09:41 AM SarahJ Says:Report as Inappropriate
way to go gillibrand!