Durban Conference

UN to mark 25th anniversary of South Africa's Durban Conference criticized for antisemitic rhetoric

"Durban was not a fight against racism, but a platform for antisemitism and hatred of Israel," said Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.

|ByIDAN KWELLER
Kiribati’s President Taneti Maamau addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York Friday, 25th September 2026; Illustrative.
PRO-PALESTINIAN SUPPORTERS demonstrate outside the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Israel and the West must stop trying to reform the UN and build something new instead - opinion

The UN has become like the failed collectivist experiments of the 20th century – the huge old Soviet state enterprises and gargantuan Chinese communist industries

|ByDAVID M. WEINBERG
The new 9/11 Memorial Wall is seen at One Police Plaza in New York, on September 9, 2026.

Twenty-five years after 9/11: Looking back at the 'Before Times' for American Jewry

Despite the conspiracy theories that tried to pin the attacks on Israelis and Jews, the dominant narrative was that Israel and the United States were engaged in battle against a common enemy.

|ByANDREW SILOW-CARROLL/JTA
Head of Israeli delegation to the World Conference Against Racism, Ambassador Mordechai Yedid, addresses at a plenary meeting 03 September 2001, in Durban.

Twenty five years after Durban, equating Zionism with racism has become mainstream - editorial

The 2001 World Conference against Racism 2001 included a draft document equating Zionism with racism, targeting Israel alone for its right to exist.

|ByJPOST EDITORIAL

The Durban Conference 25 years later: A blueprint for anti-Israel demonization - interview

The conference has become synonymous with discrimination of the anti-Zionist kind, and is considered by many the birthplace of modern anti-Israel rhetoric.

AUGUST 30, 2026ByMATHILDA HELLER
A march organized by the Muslim Judicial ahead of the Durban conference in Cape Town, August 2001.

NGO Monitor founder Gerald Steinberg to step down after 25 years, Olga Deutsch to succeed him

Steinberg will transition to the role of president emeritus, while long-time Vice President Olga Deutsch will become CEO and president in the group's first-ever leadership transition.

MAY 12, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Outgoing President of NGO Monitor, Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg.

The UN’s new Durban resolution is reinforcing racism - opinion

Surprisingly, Hamas’ October 7 massacre against Israel and the increased antisemitism that has followed the attacks are not mentioned in the resolution draft.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024ByDIANA KRIEF , ANDRIA SPINDEL
Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the UNHRC on his report on the human rights situation in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Is Israel an apartheid state? A narrative's origins in South Africa

Can Israel really be regarded as an apartheid state in the way that South Africa was when it was ruled by the Afrikaner Nationalist Party?

DECEMBER 2, 2022BySANDRA LEE BRAUDE
Nelson Mandela’s oldest grandson, Mandla Mandela, speaks during a protest by Palestinian supporters calling for Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, to withdraw from the Miss Universe pageant in Israel on November 19, 2021.

The Durban Conference perpetuates hate - opinion

Intended to explore ways to end racism and promote awareness of intolerance, the Durban Conference devolved into a public display of anti-Jewish rhetoric.

OCTOBER 25, 2021ByRICHARD D. HEIDEMAN
MARCHING IN Cape Town, South Africa, August 21, 2001, ahead of the Durban conference. Thousands from the city’s Muslim community joined in.

Swedish foreign minister in Israel marking thaw in relations

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde will be the first Swedish foreign minister to visit Israel since Sweden recognized a Palestinian state in 2014, sparking a diplomatic row.

OCTOBER 17, 2021ByLAHAV HARKOV
Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde arrives for the EU foreign ministers meeting at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium May 10, 2021.

How the EU and US allow anti-Israel NGOs to thrive in the UN

The anti-Israel Durban conference was held two weeks ago, where NGOs launched a campaign to delegitimize Israel.

OCTOBER 13, 2021ByOLGA DEUTSCH
PROTESTERS BRANDISH anti-Israel signs outside the Durban Conference opening session, August 31, 2001.

UNHRC approves Durban resolution, 10 nations oppose over antisemitism

Israel had worked behind the scenes to sway UNHRC members to oppose the resolution and to refuse to allow the pro-Durban resolution to pass by consensus

OCTOBER 12, 2021ByTOVAH LAZAROFF
SEATS NORMALLY occupied by the United States delegation are empty one day after the US announced its withdrawal from the UN’s Human Rights Council, at the United Nations in Geneva on June 20, 2018

UK, Germany to let UN Durban resolution pass after boycotting last month

The resolution in Geneva reaffirms support for the 2001 Durban Declaration which singles out Israel as a perpetrator of racism.

OCTOBER 10, 2021ByLAHAV HARKOV
THE UN Human Rights Council meets in Geneva, February 2020.

20 years since Durban: Most sickening display of Jew-hate since Nazis

Antisemitism that shocked even a Holocaust survivor marked the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, which the UN honored with a 20th-anniversary event this week.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2021ByLAHAV HARKOV
MARCHING IN Cape Town, South Africa, August 21, 2001, ahead of the Durban conference. Thousands from the city’s Muslim community joined in.