Twenty-five prominent leaders in the United States have urged the country to boycott next year's United Nations anti-racism conference. In a full-page advertisement to be run in several major newspapers, they said the conference is anti-Semitic. American and Israeli delegates walked out of the conference held in Durban seven years ago after other representatives severely criticized Israel.
 
Among the signatories to the advertisement are former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director James Woolsey, Nazi hunter Elie Wiesel and pro-Israel activist and civil rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz. The advertisement, obtained by the Associated Press, states that the planned conference "seeks not to combat racism, but to promote and fuel hatred toward Israel and America.... There is an immediate way to act against growing anti-Semitism around the world--say no to Durban II. Declare that the United States will not participate in a dialogue that promotes prejudice."

The State Department has not yet decided whether to attend, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice previously told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "We have no intention of participating in something like Durban I."