Meyer Habib
Meyer HabibHabib's office

French-Jewish MP Meyer Habib on Friday welcomed France’s decision not to participate in the upcoming UN Durban IV conference which is scheduled for September.

"France will not take part in the anti-Semitic and racist joke in Durban. President Macron accepted responsibility. This is the right decision and I welcome it," said Habib.

Earlier, France cited concerns about anti-Semitism in choosing not take part in Durban IV.

"Concerned by a history of anti-Semitic remarks made at the UN conference on racism, known as the Durban conference, the President of the Republic has decided that France will not participate in the follow-up conference to be held this year," said French President Emmanuel Macron’s office.

France joins a significant list of other nations who have announced they will not be attending the much criticized conference, including Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany.

Durban IV, to take place on September 22, will mark the 20th anniversary of the 2001 Durban “World Conference on Racism” that turned into an anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate fest.

All Durban conferences, including the planned Durban IV, "reaffirm" the original Durban Declaration in its entirety, Jewish groups have noted.

In May, the Biden administration was denounced for breaking with past precedent distancing the US from Durban over endemic anti-Semitism when it signed on to a United Nations Human Rights Council statement lauding the notorious 2001 conference. One hundred and fifty other countries also signed the declaration.

The White House was later commended by Jewish groups when it stated the US would not be attending Durban IV.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)