Jewish groups praise US for decision to boycott Durban II

The way things have developed, it’s not often that the Chief can whole-heartedly agree with a policy decision from the new administration.

This is one of those exceptional cases.

Jewish groups have joined in praising the US decision to withdraw from a UN-sponsored conference on racism, and say they hope that European countries will follow suit. Widely called “Durban II,” the conference is scheduled for April in Geneva.

In a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League, its national chairman, Glen S. Lewy, said, “We applaud the administration for refusing to participate in a process that would in any way brand Israel as a racist country.”

Moishe Smith, president of B’nai B’rith International, said that while the group was “never pleased to walk away from international discussions in critical areas like racism, we credit the Obama administration for its good faith effort.”

US President Barack Obama was originally inclined to participate in the World Conference Against Racism, set to open on April 20, and even sent a delegation to Geneva for the preparations. But the US rescinded its involvement when the delegation determined that the conference’s proposed draft resolutions would be blatantly anti-Israel and were unable to change the content.

This is a good move…and shows that we will not be willing to toady to the influences of unabashed anti-semitic strains that are running through much of the UN these days out of the Islamic world and others who are sympathetic to this sort of thing for various political or other reasons.

Frankly, given the tone of SecState Hillary lately fregarding the middle-east, this is a pleasantly unexpected surprise.