The US committed to boycotting the Durban IV conference this September - in response to a question by a Jerusalem Post reporter Lahav Harkov, who had read about it from one of my articles. This helped push other countries into making a decision as to whether they will legitimize the notorious 2001 Durban antisemitic hatefest or not.
Australia was the first to follow the US in announcing that they will not attend. “We will not associate Australia with one-sided and contentious language that singles out Israel or an event that champions such language,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated on Thursday, in a much more public position than the US had done with an anonymous State Department official.
Shortly afterwards, Canada also declared that they will not attend. Global Affairs Canada spokesman Grantly Franklin said, “Canada remains committed, at home and abroad, including at the UN, to advancing human rights, inclusion and combatting antisemitism, islamophobia and systemic racism in all its forms. Canada opposes initiatives at the United Nations and in other multilateral forums that unfairly single out and target Israel for criticism. Canada is concerned that the Durban Process has and continues to be used to push for anti-Israel sentiment and as a forum for antisemitism. That is why we do not plan to attend or participate in events surrounding the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action."
Jewish leaders in the UK are urging Great Britain to follow suit, but the government has not committed to that, only saying that they will see how likely it is that Durban IV will host antisemitism. That is a poor answer because Durban IV will re-commit to the Durban I declaration that singled out Israel as guilty of "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia [or] related intolerance."
According to Harkov, France is expected to pull out as well.
14 nations boycotted the tenth anniversary of Durban I. It is unclear if the US will actually lead the push to boycott Durban IV, though, as it did then under Obama. This is still very troubling.
