Jewish group drops out of racism meeting after Iran objects

[oberliner]

GENEVA (AFP) - A Canadian Jewish community advocacy group withdrew its application to attend the United Nations conference on racism after objections by Iran, UN Watch said Wednesday.

Iran made a "series of aggressive and seemingly endless objections" to the NGO's attempt to obtain accreditation for the conference, said the human rights monitoring group.

"It is ironic that a UN gathering meant to combat racism became a platform for Tehran's fundamentalist regime and its allies to single out and harass a mainstream NGO, for no apparent reason other than the inclusion in its name of the words Jewish and Israel," said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.

Iran objected to accrediting the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) last month without citing reasons.

It was supported by Algeria, Egypt as well as a Palestinian observer, while the European Union and other Western states argued to accredit the NGO.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080430/wl_canada_afp/canadairanisraelunracism_080430162322