A version of this piece, by Rosalind Preston OBE, appears in this week’s Jewish Chronicle

To go or not to go? That was the question.  And it still is - as discussions around the Western world on whether or not to attend the Durban Review Conference on 20 April have continued for months on end, seemingly without end.

For Jewish community leaders and commentators there has been fierce and passionate debate on the issue. But for me there was never any doubt.  How could Jewish representatives not be present at a conference where the Jewish world in general and Israel in particular is once again expected to be vilified, defamed, demonised and demeaned?

Following months of energetic and highly professional lobbying of our own government at the highest levels, including E.U. ambassadors and coupled with our unbroken attendance at U.N. preparatory conferences, a consensus began to emerge. The UK conveyed an unambiguous message that unless changes were made, its own official attendance could not be guaranteed. As a consequence we have seen the preparation of the final text radically altered, with the removal of much of the most hateful language contained in the final resolutions.

However, my fear is that in the immediately prior to and during the Conference, there will be an attempt to re-introduce language referring to Israel as an apartheid state, equating Zionism with racism and excluding Jews as victims of racism. The recent announcement by that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he intends to attend the conference only ratchets up these concerns. Critics are already saying that with Iran as the vice-chair of the conference organising committee, the presence of a head of state who denies the Holocaust and openly seeks Israel’s annihilation effectively turns the UN into an enabler of genocide.

What, then, will be the reaction of our government delegation?  Hopefully, promises will be kept and members of the JHRC will be there, together with other N.G.Os involved in the fight against racism, to press for withdrawal from the conference if “red lines” have been crossed.

By being present in Geneva Jewish organisations from many parts of the world will unite in the on-going struggle against all forms of racism and most especially antisemitism.  They will be there to let the United Nations delegations know that the Jewish world has not forgotten the outrageous events of 2001 Durban when the N.G.O. Forum descended into anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel outpourings.

I hope that the 2009 Review Conference will address the suffering of millions of people around the globe, victims of many forms of racism, and enable us to return home, having contributed to that debate, as well as fighting the long and bitter battle against antisemitism.