On behalf of B'nai B'rith International and the Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations, allow me to commend Mr. Diène's comprehensive and objective report on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. As Jewish organizations, we were particularly pleased to note the emphasis laid by the Special Rapporteur on the new forms of antisemitism, including state-sponsored antisemitism, both in Europe and the Middle East, in the form of Holocaust denial and calls for the elimination of the only Jewish State in the world. He ably pointed out the link between the negationists from around the world and the anti-black racists of the infamous Ku Klux Klan, who were assembled in the Holocaust denial conference in Teheran a few months ago at the invitation of the host country's authorities.

The upsurge of antisemitism duly reported by unimpeachable governmental and non-governmental institutions should incite this Council to institute a monitoring instrument which could produce recommendations for action by the Council and to which the Special Rapporteur could make a valuable contribution. For this reason, we were pleased to note that the Special Rapporteur had endorsed a proposal put forward by BBI several years ago before the old Commission calling for the establishment of a worldwide monitoring unit of racist phenomena within the Office of the High Commissioner, following the model of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, now called the Fundamental Rights Agency. This Center has drafted a useful working definition of antisemitism and its relationship to anti-Zionism that might well serve as a guideline for the proposed monitoring unit. In this connection we urge the Council to accede to the repeated requests made by the Special Rapporteur extending his mandate to allow him to present periodic reports on antisemitism and "Christianophobia" in the same vein as the periodic reporting on "Islamophobia" regularly mandated by the old Commission and the Council.

Like the Special Rapporteur, we urge the Council to encourage member States to wage a systematic campaign against incitement to racial and religious hatred by maintaining a careful balance between the defense of secularism and respect for the freedom of religion.

Thank you, Mr. President.