UN Watch | Sept 2026
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GOOD NEWS: Following a sustained diplomatic and media campaign by UN Watch, an unprecedented coalition of 45 countries pulled out of the UN’s 25th anniversary commemoration of the Durban Conference, a notorious event tainted by antisemitism and the demonization of Israel.
Instead of combating racism as it promised, the original September 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa became the worst international manifestation of antisemitism in the post-war period.
In 2021, following UN Watch’s campaign, 38 democracies refused to participate at the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Durban Conference.
Now, at yesterday’s 25-year commemoration, a record 45 countries boycotted the event that became synonymous with anti-Israel hate.
UN Watch salutes all governments who stayed away and showed moral courage: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Sudan, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.
UN Watch’s “Say No to Durban 25” campaign included the following actions:
• UN Watch created a Durban 25 website with a detailed timeline of key facts along with educational videos to explain the entire history of the 2001 Durban Conference and its follow-up events in 2009, 2011, 2020, and 2026.
• Behind the scenes, UN Watch engaged in sustained outreach with diplomats to urge governments not to participate.
• This diplomatic effort was reinforced by a public pressure campaign on social media, including a petition, widely shared on social media, that garnered thousands of signatures.
• On August 31st, on the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Durban hatefest, UN Watch and NGO Monitor hosted a special online event featuring testimony from world experts and delegates who were on the ground at Durban in 2001, concluding with an appeal and press release: Experts Condemn Durban’s 25-Year Legacy of Antisemitism, Urge Democracies to Boycott UN Anniversary.
• UN Watch produced a professional video series on Durban 25 by filming a dedicated interview with Professor Irwin Cotler, Canada’s former Minister of Justice, who is one of the world experts on the Durban conference and its legacy of hate. He issued a call on the community of democracies not to attend.
SUCCESSFUL RESULT: Despite fears that it would not be possible in these difficult times, in the end a clear message was sent out this week from an unprecedented coalition of 45 countries: Durban’s legacy of antisemitism and anti-Israel hate will not go unchallenged. UN Watch will continue exposing antisemitism and anti-Israel bias wherever it appears at the United Nations.
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