UN meeting approves anti-racism declaration

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Over 100 countries at the UN anti-racism conference in Geneva have agreed on a declaration calling on the world to combat intolerance. The declaration reaffirms a 2001 statement issued after the UN's first global racism meeting in Durban, South Africa. Israel was the only nation named in that first declaration. This was cited by the US as a reason to boycott the Geneva meeting. The decision by consensus Tuesday comes a day after the UN meeting in Geneva was shaken by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fiery condemnation of Israel as a "racist" country and call to eradicate the Jewish state. That speech prompted a walkout by European Union countries. The Czech Republic joined the United States and several other countries in boycotting the conference.