UN General Assembly supports implementation of Durban Declaration — Jerusalem Post
The UN General Assembly in New York, United States, adopted a political declaration and draft resolution A/81/L.4 calling for the full implementation of the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Ninety-five states voted in favor of the document, five voted against it, and another 37 abstained, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Voting results
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Micronesia and Israel voted against the resolution. The United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and a number of European Union countries abstained.
The document provides for the comprehensive implementation of the Durban Declaration and further action to put it into effect. Its main themes are reparatory justice, state policies to combat racism, protection against racial profiling and against structural bias embedded in modern technologies.
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Israel's position
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, condemned the attempt to grant additional legitimacy to the Durban Conference. According to him, the conference, which was intended to focus on combating racism, became a platform for antisemitism and hatred of Israel.
Danon recalled incidents that, according to him, occurred during the 2001 conference: the distribution of images of Adolf Hitler, equating Zionism with racism, and physical attacks on Jewish participants. He also stated that Israel would not support a resolution which, in his view, legitimizes antisemitism under the guise of combating racism.
The new text does not directly mention Israel, but the country objects to it because of the requirement to reaffirm the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in full. According to the publication, 46 countries boycotted events marking the 25th anniversary of the Durban Conference. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said that the United States left the event in protest, as it did during the original 2001 conference.
