In Jerusalem there is a feeling of satisfaction due to the announced decision that a number of countries have decided to boycott the Durban-2 Conference scheduled to get underway on Monday in Geneva. During the first UN-sponsored conference, it became painfully clear that the agenda was nothing short of an Israel-bashing anti-Semitic one, prompting Israel and the United States to leave in anger.

In a relatively strong diplomatic act of protest, Jerusalem announced on Monday morning it was recalling the Swiss ambassador for consultations in an apparent sign of disapproval over Geneva’s hosting the racially bias conference.

This time around, Israel, the United States, Australia, Italy, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Holland and Canada have decided to announce their intention to boycott the event, not wishing to lend a hand of legitimacy to the anti-Israel forum. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner announced his country will attend, but added he will walk out immediately at the first hint of the conference becoming an anti-Israel forum.

Adding to their objections of boycott nations is the fact that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be attending, granted an international forum and dignitary status, a move that Israel and others feel will sorely compromise international efforts to isolate Iran, which continues to defy demands to abandon its nuclear enrichment program.

President Shimon Peres called the forum a disgrace and an embarrassment, adding it comes on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. Nobel Prize laureate Eli Wiesel calls on officials to arrest Ahmadinejad when he arrives in Geneva.

Nevertheless, the conference is scheduled to open as planned, and Switzerland has yet to respond positively to an Israeli request that President Hans Rudolf Merz refrain from shaking the Iranian leader’s hand in a formal welcoming ceremony.

NOTE: As we post this article, Ahmadinejad’s speech is underway – viciously attacking Israel and the United States. A complete report will be posted shortly.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)