Washington, Feb 18, SPA -- In contrast to Bush administration policy, the United States is participating in planning sessions for a U.N. conference on racism despite concerns that meeting will be used to criticize Israel. A U.S. delegation is attending consultations this week on the World Conference Against Racism, scheduled for April in Geneva. The United States and Israel walked out of the first U.N. racism conference in Durban, South Africa in 2001 in protest over attempts to pass a resolution comparing Zionism to racism. Critics of the April conference, called “Durban II,” say Arab countries will use it to criticize Israel. The U.S. State Department said Tuesday the U.S. delegation would work on improving the final document, but the United States may or may not attend the April conference. “If you are not engaged, you don’t have a voice,” spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters.“We wanted to put forward our view and see if there is some way we can make the document a better document than it appears it is going to be,” Duguid said. “That does not mean, however, that we will take part in future meetings or … in the conference itself.”The Bush administration refused to participate in the planning for the Durban conference and voted in the U.N. General Assembly last year to protest the forum. However, President Barack Obama has pledged a more open diplomatic approach, including closer cooperation with the United Nations.“We’d like to see something balanced that addresses racism around the globe and tries to provide a way forward on resolving those issues,” Duguid said. The U.S. decision to attend the planning sessions sparked some criticism from U.S. Jewish groups but was welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who urged all member countries “to engage constructively on all the outstanding issues” at the conference.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/636738