[Excerpt:]

"South Africa, which hosted the 2001 U.N. Durban conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and intolerance, is seeking to host a follow-up, scheduled for early 2009, and is calling on other nations to participate. But Canada has said it will skip Durban II, and America and some European countries are considering staying away as well. Israel and its allies are pushing for Durban II to be held in Geneva or New York, saying the anti-Semitic edge that characterized the first conference, which resulted in an American and Israeli walkout, could be averted by such a move."