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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971779.html
Israel, U.S. to Boycott UN Anti-Racism Conference
[Ha'aretz] Barak Ravid - Israel and the U.S. decided a few weeks ago to boycott the Durban II conference scheduled for early 2009. According to a senior government official, the joint decision was made after discussions among senior U.S. State Department and Foreign Ministry officials, and after being raised in talks between Foreign Minister Livni and Secretary of State Rice. Israel and the U.S. decided to make their participation in the conference conditional on guarantees the event would not become a rerun of the previous anti-Israel festival in Durban in 2001. "The burden of proof will be on the UN and the organizers," a Jerusalem source stated. On Wednesday, major U.S. newspapers ran an advertisement signed by 25 public figures calling on the government to boycott the conference.