Washington - Today, US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) released the following statement in response to the Obama Administration's decision not to participate in the Durban III World Conference Against Racism, scheduled to take place later this year during the UN General Assembly in New York. Last year, Menendez signed a letter led by Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) urging the U.S. to refrain from participating in the conference as long as it undermined the goal of fighting discrimination with demonstrations of anti-Semitism.


"I applaud the State Department's decision to forego participation in the Durban III World Conference Against Racism this year," said Senator Menendez. "People of democratic principle understand the misnomer, that Durban III will be yet another ugly opportunity to single out Israel and become a megaphone for anti-Semitism and anti-American vitriol. I am grateful that a letter that I signed to Ambassador Rice has helped in the decision to pull the United States out of this historically repugnant hate fest and can only hope that in the future a conference against racism is legitimately focused. "


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