Cyprus and New Zealand will not take part in this month’s event marking 20 years since the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, which was marked with antisemitism and anti-Israel statements.
“New Zealand remains strongly committed to combatting racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington said on Thursday. “Consistent with our long-standing position, New Zealand will not attend the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration conference in New York on 22 September 2021.”
Cyprus has also decided not to attend the conference, American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris said, citing a conversation he had with Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.
Also this week, Italy and Croatia said they would not attend the conference, with the latter saying the decision was due to “the constant antisemitic attitudes and the linking of conferences to anti-Israel propaganda and the promotion of intolerance.”
Durban IV will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this month.
Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK and the US also plan to boycott the event. The number of countries boycotting this year’s conference, 16, is greater than the 14 that opted out of the 2011 Durban Review Conference, and the 10 that did so in 2009.
