France to boycott UN anti-racism conference

Macron joins growing list of Western countries to boycott event, saying the decision is due to ‘anti-Semitic statements’ at previous editions.

French President Emmanuel Macron will boycott a UN conference on the fight against racism next month over concerns about “anti-Semitic statements” at previous editions, the presidency said Friday. The follow-up meeting of the Durban Conference, named after the South African city where the first edition was held in 2001, is scheduled to bring together world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September. But the format has been controversial since its inception, with critics led by Israel charging that the first edition in Durban was tarnished by virulent and undisguised anti-Semitism.