We continue to be disappointed by the Council's insistence on perpetuating agenda item 7 at each and every session. This item, whose very title implicitly singles out Israel for condemnation, is the only geographic item permanently on the Council's agenda. While unfortunate, this occurrence is hardly unexpected. It is rather the latest symptom in a long history of this Council's and its predecessor's obsessive focus on Israel, most obviously witnessed by the fact that four out of six special sessions of the Council have been aimed against Israel, notwithstanding the plethora of human rights violations around the globe reported upon by numerous special rapporteurs.

The bias inherent in the item has for years been compounded by one-sided reports on the part of Mr. John Dugard, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. We look forward to a replacement who attempts to be more even handed in his or her handling of a biased mandate, rather than adding fuel to the perennial efforts of this Council's automatic majority to railroad condemnation after condemnation through this Council's proceedings.

Mr. Dugard's latest report insists on qualifying Israel an apartheid state, in which a novel element of apartheid ("road apartheid") has been invented, which was not even known in apartheid South Africa. Such comparisons contained in UN documents cannot but stoke hatred and encourage the extremists who spare no efforts in sabotaging the on-going peace efforts being undertaken by Israel and the moderate Palestinian elements.

Mr. Dugard tries to distinguish between what he calls the "mindless terror" of Al Qaeda and the terrorist actions of the Palestinian militant groups. Making distinctions between terrorist acts committed against civilians in New York, London, and Madrid on the one hand and those committed in Tel Aviv, Sderot, and Jerusalem on the other is inherently arbitrary. Once the principle of terrorism is justified in one context, it can easily be justified anywhere. Numerous UN documents refuse these distinctions and call all acts of terrorism to be identified, condemned and penalized as a human rights violation that threatens our collective security.

At this point we renew our objection that we last stated during the sixth special session, that the resolutions and special procedures concerning Israel that routinely ignore Article 51 of the United Nation's Charter. This article clearly confirms the sovereign right of every member state to defend itself and its citizens from attack. This concept is never discussed by the majority of this Council in relation to Israel and her need to defend herself from on-going rocket attacks and suicide bombers whom emanate from Gaza and the West Bank.

This majority continually ignores attacks upon Israeli citizens and focuses only on the Israeli response. We can only hope for the good of the Council itself and the promotion of universal human rights in general that this imbalance will cease, but sadly and realistically, we don't expect to see any changes during this session or in the near future.

Thank you, Mr. President.