From the JTA news wire:
(JTA) — A Durban II counter-conference is being held in New York.
The conference, sponsored by the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and co-sponsored by more than 20 organizations, is being held through Friday, the same dates as the United Nations-sponsored anti-racism conference currently going on in Geneva.
The counter-conference "will address the real issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance which the Durban I and Durban II were officially convened to address; but as happened at Durban I, the Durban II proceedings in Geneva will likely ignore, distort, or misrepresent these issues," according to a statement from the association.
Speakers are scheduled to include Ambassador Richard Schifter, former United States representative in the U.N. Human Rights Commission; Hon. Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice of Canada who will address the issues of the Counter-Conference upon his return from the conference in Geneva; Canadian Senator Jerry Grafstein of Toronto; and Ambassador Daniel Carmon, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations.
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