Following Israel's decision not to participate in the Durban Review Conference, Ittijah, a coalition of Palestinian and Israeli Arab NGOs, issued a press release calling for a global "boycott [of[ Israel, to impose sanctions and to label it as a colonial racist state under the Motto: Zionism is Racism - Israel is an Apartheid, the same motto used during the world conference against Racism, 2001." Ittijah claims a central role in the demonization process against Israel at the 2001 conference in Durban.

In its statement, Ittijah condemns Israel for "escalat[ing] and increas[ing]... their structural and colonial racist policies," and attempting to "to justify and launder the Israeli crimes of racism and colonialism against Palestinians everywhere" through the delegitimization of the Durban process. Ittijah also brands NGO Monitor and the Simon Wiesenthal Center as "international Zionist organizations" and accuses them of being "guided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs" to "obstruct the convening of the 2009 Durban Review conference." It "warns from possible US threats to boycott the 2009 Conference in accordance with its Israeli allies and points fingers at the European Union which supported Israel during the World Conference against Racism, 2001."

In addition to calling for boycotts and sanctions, and using "apartheid" and "racism" rhetoric, "Ittijah calls, through the preparations for the Durban Review conference 2009, for a global coalition to confront States’ terror, in particular, that of Israel and the US."