UN General Assembly Votes to Back the Goldstone Report

In a 114 to 18 vote, with 44 member-states abstaining, the UN General Assembly voted today to endorse the Goldstone report. The report, which details possible war crimes committed by Hamas and Israel during fighting in Gaza last December. The report calls on both governments to investigate the allegations or for the UN to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.

The United States, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands were among the member-states who voted against the report. Great Britain and France were among the member-states who abstained.

Read more at Al Jazeera and the Jerusalem Post.

The house condemns the Goldstone Report as “irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy.”

H.R. Res 867 has been adopted by the House of Representatives on Tuesday November 3rd, 2009.

H.R. Res 867 "[Called] on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict" in multilateral fora (Rep. Ros-Lehtinen - Foreign Affairs)"

Read about the other resolutions passed here.

Goldstone Calls H.R. Res. 867 "Factually Inaccurate"

Justice Goldstone issues a line-by-line critique of H.R. Res. 867, which rejects the Goldstone Report as one sided and anti-Israeli. Justice Goldstone points out what he calls "misleading" and "factually inaccurate" interpretations of the Goldstone Report, including the charge that the basis of the fact-finding mission Goldstone led was to investigate Israeli activity. Goldstone says that the mission was to investigate all war crimes committed in Gaza during the fighting last December, and that the report specifically mentions war crimes committed by Hamas.

Read Justice Goldstone's letter to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

House Bill to condemn Goldstone Report

Today there will be a vote for H.R. Res. 867, by Rep. Ros-Lehtinen - Foreign Affairs, which calls on the President and the Secretary of State to unequivocally disregard any endorsement of the Goldstone report, "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict," due to it's inherent flaws. WSJ opinion writer , John Bolton, supports the bill when casting blame for the reported flaws on the "report's underlying mandate and its stridently anti-Israel tilt on America's earlier absence from the HRC when the investigation was authorized and launched."


Also this week, H.R. 2868, Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 , will be voted on. This bill will amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to extend, modify, and recodify the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to enhance security and protect against acts of terrorism against chemical facilities, and for other purposes. H.R. 2868 was introduced by Rep. Thompson (MS) - Homeland Security.

Read more about this week's house legislative business here.

Israel Wants to Change the Laws of War

The UN Human Rights Counsel endorced the Goldstone report last Friday, which alleges that war crimes were committed in Gaza last December. While the report details war crimes committed by both sides, the majority of the report focuses on the actions of the Israeli military.

It was speculated that Israel's defense minister might recommend creating an independent panel to review the actions of the military to avoid a UN referral to the ICC, it seems like Israel is going on the offensive.

Al Jazeera reported today that Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised that he will block a vote on the Goldstone report if it comes to a vote in the UN General Assembly. He also said he would campaign to delegitimize the report, by lobbying other countries to reject the report. Netanyahu is also trying to garner support to change the laws of war.

Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, said that changes in international humanitarian law needs to reflect the changing world situation, including a global fight against terrorism. The defense minister said that Israel's military should have more freedom to react, without worrying about violating international laws. An Israeli official said that an independent inquiry into the war crimes allegations was not even discussed at a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who conducted the investigation into the fighting in Gaza now finds himself under personal attack.

Israel's Response to the Goldstone Report

The Jerusalem Times reported that Israel's defense minister convened his security cabinet today to discuss the response to the Goldstone report, which documented suspected war crimes committed last December in Gaza.

The Goldstone report, adopted by the UNHRC last week, described possible war crimes committed by both sides fighting in Gaza. It accused Hamas of terrorizing civilian populations by rocket fire, and accused Israel of terrorizing civilian populations, using disproportionate force, and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, among other charges. The report recommends both sides investigate the allegations, or, the UNHCR said, the matter should be referred to the International Criminal Court. One of the options discussed in the meetings was creating an independent inquiry to investigate the allegations, thus avoiding scrutiny by the ICC.

UN HRC endorses Goldstone Report

In a twenty-five countries to six vote (including the US and the Netherlands), with eleven countries abstaining and five declining to vote (including France and the UK), the United Nations Human Rights Counsel endorsed the Goldstone report. The report accuses the military of using disproportion force and charges the Israelis and Hamas with war crimes, including terrorizing civilian populations. The report calls on Israel and Hamas to conduct investigations into the allegations, and a UN referral to the ICC if the two sides fail to investigate. Read more at Al Jazeera.

Prior to the vote, Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, speaking on behalf of UN Watch, said that the IDF took extraordinary measures to protect civilian populations. Col. Kemp said the IDF dropped leaflets, made thousands of phone calls, and aborted several missions to protect Palestinian civilians. Kemp also said many of the civilian casualties were caused by Palestinian fighters positioning themselves behind a "human shield" of civilians. Read more at Jerusalem Post.

UN Human Rights Chief backs report on Gaza war crimes

Navi Pillay, the United Nation's top human rights official, backed the Goldstone report that detailed war crimes committed in Gaza last December. Pillay said she backs the report, including its recommendation for "urgent action to counter impunity." Read more at NYTimes.

Fatah Signs Palestinian Unity Pact

After announcing that it would push for UN action on the Goldstone report this Saturday, Fatah signs a reconciliation pact that calls for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on June 28. A Hamas spokesman said that they are still studying the proposal. Read more at Al Jazeera.

UNHCR reopens debate on the Goldstone report.

The Goldstone report, a UN investigation that alleges war crimes were committed during fighting in the Gaza Strip this last winter, will be the subject of a UN Human Rights Council special session this Thursday. Palestine was able to gain enough support in the UN to reopen debate after Abbas and the Palestinian Authority announced this weekend they would back debate on the Goldstone report. Read more at Jerusalem Post or Al Jazeera.

The Goldstone report accuses Israel of using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure and terrorizing civilian populations. The report also accuses Hamas of deliberately targeting civilians and terrorizing civilian populations with rocket fire.

PA reverses previous stance on UN report

In a reversal from an announcement earlier this month, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said he would push for immediate action over the Goldstone report, a UN report that found evidence of war crimes by Hamas and Israel in Gaza last December. The previous stance by the PA to delay action on the UN report threatened to disrupt reconciliation talks between Hamas and the PA. Read more at NYTimes.com.

Hamas and Fatah put reconciliation agreement on hold.

Hamas announced Saturday it was postponing the agreement. Disagreement centers on the Palestinian Authority decision to delay action on the Goldstone report. The report found evidence of war crimes committed during the fighting in Gaza this past December, and urged both sides to conduct investigations. To read more click here al Jazeera or Jerusalem Post.