SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER COMMENDS ITALY FOR THEIR DECISION TO

March 5, 2009

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER COMMENDS ITALY FOR THEIR DECISION TO
PULL OUT OF DURBAN II

"Italy's joining with Canada and the United States will deprive the organizers of Durban II of the one thing they most crave – legitimacy.” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean Simon Wiesenthal Center 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today commended Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini for withdrawing his delegation from the Durban II perperatory conference due to the,"aggressive and anti-Semitic statements" in the event's final document.

"By joining Canada and the United States, these three democracies will withhold from the organizers of Durban II's show trial of Israel, the one thing they most crave – legitimacy.  We hope that the world’s other democracies still sitting on the fence will follow their lead." said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
 
Wiesenthal Center officials served as spokesmen for Jewish participants at the Durban I hate-fest that took place in Durban, South Africa, just days before 9/11.  Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Center's Paris-based Director of International Relations, attended all Durban II prepcoms manipulated by Libya, Iran and other serial human rights abusers to single out Israel alone for criticism, nix any discussion of Islamist extremism and clear the way for Holocaust deniers to be heard.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, contact the Center’s Public Relations department, 310-553-9036.