It may be too little and too late but Judge Goldstone has cleared Israel and the IDF from the war crimes allegations as per the Goldstone report investigating operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
In September 2009, the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict chaired by Justice Richard Goldstone submitted its report (the Goldstone Report) to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Report suggested that war crimes had been committed by all parties in the Gaza Conflict, and has served as the basis for an extensive political and legal campaign against Israel in the international arena.
Now Judge Goldstone
paints a very different picture from the original report and concludes that Israel has been truthful all along. Here are the major points in his remorse-full article:
- Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself and its citizens against attacks from abroad and within.
- Israel has dedicated significant resources to investigate allegations of operational misconduct in Gaza concluding civilians were not intentionally targeted by the IDF
- Hamas has continued to fire hundreds of rockets and mortars at civilians in Israel
- The laws of armed conflict apply to Hamas no less than to national armies
- Hamas has not conducted any investigations into the launching of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. Expecting Hamas would actually investigate itself may have been a mistake.
- The UN's Human Rights Committee has a proven history of anti Israel bias. It should condemn Hamas' heinous acts against Israel in the strongest terms and not target Israel every chance it gets.
All of us in
Giyus.org and all those that support Israel have known all along that Israel acted according to International laws and that the IDF did not intentionally target civilians. Hamas on the other hand, intentionally attacks Israeli civilians, firing from residential areas and turning Gazans into Human Shields. Hamas is hoping the IDF will retaliate and Gazans will be caught in the cross fire. The more civilians casualties Hamas can orchestrate the more damage is done to Israel's reputation. The Goldstone report played right into the hands of Hamas in that regard.
While Judge Goldstone clears Israel and the IDF from any misconduct, sadly the damage to Israel's reputation has already been done. Please take action -
contact Judge Goldstone, ask him to share his conclusions on the Goldstone report with the UN's Human Rights Council who commissioned it. Thank him for clearing Israel of war crime allegations but ask him to demand the UN retract the Goldstone Report.
To act on pressing issues and easily support Israel please sign up to Giyus.org's email updates - make a difference to Israel.
In terms of future lessons the most obvious should be that if Israel wants to be treated fairly by the UN they should cooperate with such investigations instead of stonewalling. If Goldstone is correct, it was precisely Israel's intransigence that led to the report being one sided. You can't blame a court for a suspect who refuses to defend themselves.
ReplyDeleteI would say exactly the opposite.
ReplyDeleteGoldstone himself admits in his op-ed: "the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose history of bias against Israel cannot be doubted."
Under those circumstances, Israel had no reason to trust the committee--and given the flaws that Goldstone himself admits to, Israel was vindicated in its wariness.
Besides, Israel did post a number of reports on Operation Cast Lead--including analysis and criticism of the Report based on flawed reasoning and error.
While Goldstone's report claims there is no proof that Hamas used human shields, you have only to search on YouTube to find videos that establish that fact.
There is the fact that Goldstone refused to allow Colonel Richard Kemp to testify--and the fact that one of the members was part of an open letter criticizing Israel before she was appointed to the committee, despite the fact that it showed she had already come to conclusions that would preclude her having a open mind.
Goldstone made excuses for her--and he himself was on the board of Human Rights--often critical of Israel--and only agreed to step down after he was criticized himself for the taint of bias.
No, Israel was right not to participate in a Report that showed every indication of a predetermined conclusion, as evidenced by the sloppiness of the methodology--and as Goldstone admits--its conclusions.
All i can say that Goldstone himself admits in his op-ed: "the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose history of angled about Israel cannot be doubted."Under those circumstances, Israel had noaccuracy toaffirmation the committee--and acclimatized the flaws that Goldstone himself admits to, Israel was vindicated in its wariness.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe Hamas doesn’t recognize Israel explicitly, and they are right not to do so. We know all too well, all the way back to 1948, that the Israelis tend to forget their own obligations (cf. Resolution 273(III), the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty etc) and to add further restrictions.
ReplyDeleteResolution 273(III)?
ReplyDeleteAh, I see your problem--you thought that being a peaceful nation means Israel has an obligation to roll over and die when attacked...
Got it.