"British delegates joined a dramatic diplomatic walkout today when President Ahmadinejad of Iran told a major UN conference against racism that the state of Israel had been founded 'on the pretext of Jewish suffering' during the Second World War."
So reported Britain's Financial Times moments ago leading one to wonder how American media will cover this event.
The Times continued (video of incident embedded right):
Around 20 delegates, including envoys from the UK, France, and Finland stood up and left the room at what was considered an anti-Semitic remark by the Iranian leader, who has repeatedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Nine Western countries including Israel and the United States had already decided to boycott the conference entirely because its draft declaration endorsed the conclusions of an anti-racism conference in South Africa eight years ago in which Islamic nations pushed through a text equating Zionism with racism.
Given the Obama administration's hopes of renewed diplomatic relations with Ahmadinejad, and the media's desire for the same, it will be very interesting to see how this event gets covered here in the next 48 hours.
