Boycott of Durban II Conference 

Geneva - Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Simon-Wiesenthal-Center, and the American Jewish Committee had required Germany and the other members of the European Union to boycott the Durban II ' anti-racism conference' beginning this Monday in Geneva, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (photo right) is slated to speak on the first day of the conference. After Israel, Canada, Italy, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, Germany said late Sunday that Berlin would join in boycotting the conference. To the disappointment of Israel, Great Britain and France refuse to join the boycott.   

Ahmedinejad said it is clear that the Zionists and their backers will undertake everything possible so that the voices of those people suppressed by Israel will be silenced." He added that the Zionists control an important part of the politics in the U.S. and Europe and used this influence, especially in the media, to force their demands. Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz (photo left) met with Ahmadinejad in Geneva Sunday. Switzerland has been representing US interests in Iran since 1980, after Tehran and Washington broke off diplomatic relations.