LIVE: Germany, US, Israel boycott UNGA Durban anti-racism event over anti-Semitism claims

Ruptly is live with a roundtable dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), which a number of countries are boycotting this year over the alleged anti-Semitism at previous editions of the event. The event is themed “Reparations, racial justice and equality for people of African descent.“ The US, Canada, Germany, Israel, and Poland are among the countries whose leaders have announced they won’t be taking part. The World Conference against Racism 2001 took place in Durban, South Africa, and was the scene of controversy after Western countries objected to draft proposals equating Zionism with racism in the conference declaration, as well as other criticism of Israel that they believed veered into anti-semitism. The 2009 conference was similarly fraught, with dozens of European delegates staging a walkout after then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech attacking Israel as a ’racist repressive regi