Thank you, Mr. President.
Israel, as a country living under the constant threat of terror, joins other States in welcoming today's special session on the human rights situation in Iraq in light of abuses committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups.
The Human Rights Council is right to respond to the consequences of terrorism: grave, horrific human rights violations are being committed daily by ISIL and associated armed groups. They are systematically targeting men, women and children and are ruthlessly carrying out widespread ethnic and religious cleansing in the areas under their control.
Terrorism is a global challenge. The Human Rights Council must unite in condemning terror and the financing and assisting terrorist groups. Ironically, some of the biggest funders of terrorism sit in this room sponsoring resolutions. The Human Rights Council must stand as a symbol for the repudiation of the gross violations of human rights committed by terrorist groups. Terrorism and its sponsors must be defeated.
Mr. President,
It was not long ago that we were sitting here in a special session; one that also involved a country facing terrorist aggression. Only it wasn’t Iraq and ISIL; it was Israel and Hamas.
ISIL and Hamas are extensions of radical Islam; both organizations violate human rights on a daily basis, including summary and public executions, forbidding freedom of expression, and persecuting and oppressing non-Muslim minorities. Both have seized territory by force: Hamas took Gaza in a coup in 2007, and ISIL has forcibly taken control over large parts of Iraq and Syria.
However, the double standard this Council exercises when it comes to issues regarding Israel is stronger than any comparison.
Mr. President,
The acts committed by extremist Islamic terror groups should be unequivocally condemned by the international community – be it in Iraq or in Gaza. We wish the Council had been less politicized, and had instead acted as a useful, universal instrument that managed to successfully protect the rights of all victims of terrorism across the globe, Israelis included.
Thank you, Mr. President.