Palestina & Israël #70

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http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)rt-authors-goldstone

Exclusive: Three mission members say calls to recant UN report disregard the rights of Palestinian and Israeli victims

Three members of the UN fact-finding mission on the Gaza war of 2008-09 have turned on the fourth member and chair of the group, Richard Goldstone, accusing him in all but name of misrepresenting facts in order to cast doubt on the credibility of their joint report.

In a statement to the Guardian, the three experts in international law are strongly critical of Goldstone's dramatic change of heart expressed in a Washington Post commentary earlier this month. Goldstone wrote that he regretted aspects of the report that bears his name, especially the suggestion that Israel had potentially committed war crimes by targeting civilian Palestinians in the three-week conflict.

The three members – the Pakistani human rights lawyer Hina Jilani; Christine Chinkin, professor of international law at the London School of Economics; and former Irish peace-keeper Desmond Travers – have until this moment kept their silence over Goldstone's bombshell remarks. But their response now is devastating.

Though they do not mention Goldstone by name, they shoot down several of the main contentions in his article and imply that he has bowed to intense political pressure.

They write that they cannot leave "aspersions cast on the findings of the [Goldstone] report unchallenged", adding that those aspersions have "misrepresented facts in an attempt to delegitimise the findings and to cast doubts on its credibility".

In their most stinging criticism, the three joint authors say that "calls to reconsider or even retract the report, as well as attempts at misrepresenting its nature and purpose, disregard the rights of victims, Palestinians and Israeli, to truth and justice". They point to the "personal attacks and the extraordinary pressure placed on members of the fact-finding mission", adding that "had we given in to pressures from any quarter to sanitise our conclusions, we would be doing a serious injustice to the hundreds of innocent civilians killed during the Gaza conflict, the thousands injured, and the hundreds of thousands whose lives continue to be deeply affected by the conflict and the blockade".

The four-person fact-finding mission was set up to look into allegations of war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas during the war in which 1,400 Palestinians – at least half of whom were civilians – and 13 Israelis died. The Goldstone report concluded that some Israelis could be held individually criminally responsible for potential war crimes.

In his Washington Post article, Goldstone said evidence had since come to light as a result of subsequent Israeli military investigations into the conflict that showed that Israel had not targeted civilians as a matter of policy. Had he known that then, "the Goldstone report would have been a different document," he wrote.

Goldstone's apparent retraction of key elements of the fact-finding mission he led was seized upon with delight by the Israeli government which called for the report to be set aside in the light of his comments. An Israeli minister claimed that Goldstone had himself promised to work to have his own report "nullified".

But his three fellow members of the mission state that they "firmly stand by" the conclusions of the report. They say that neither Israel nor Hamas has come up with any convincing evidence contradicting the findings.

The three authors cite the final UN report into the Gaza war, written by a follow-up committee led by Judge Mary McGowan Davies, that criticised Israel for the slow pace with which it conducted its investigations and for its refusal to address some of the most serious allegations about its conduct. "The mechanisms that are being used by the Israeli authorities to investigate the incidents are proving inadequate to genuinely ascertain the facts and any ensuing legal responsibility."

The statement of Jilani, Chinkin and Travers will set back any attempt by Israel to have the Goldstone report revoked. The UN human rights council, which commissioned the fact-finding mission, has already made clear that the report could only be withdrawn if all four of its authors unanimously made a formal written complaint or if the UN general assembly or human rights council voted to drop it.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed the statement from the three members of the mission. "[It is] as an important reminder of what matters – that the truth must be established and justice done. It is very disturbing that members of the committee say they have been put under pressure to sanitise their conclusions," said PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib.

"Israel must not be allowed to influence the outcome of what needs to be an objective process. Nor must Israel be allowed to investigate its own actions and find itself not guilty. We pay tribute to those members of the committee who have the courage to resist Israeli pressure and insist that justice must be done."

The Israeli government responded to the latest developments by restating its view that the Goldstone report was flawed from the outset.

"Israel's position on the Goldstone report and the whole process that established the committee has not changed. The establishment of the committee was based on fundamental flaws of the United Nations human rights council. The report was handled in a highly politicised manner by a council lacking in moral authority," said Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs.

"We believed that the methodology, workings and findings of the committee were mind-bogglingly distorted. All this is still valid as is Israel's commitment to investigate itself regardless of resolutions by any foreign body. We believe that our investigations and our transparency in carrying those out are the best reproach to any criticisms of Operation Cast Lead."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)rt-statement-un-gaza

Statement issued by members of the UN fact-finding mission to Gaza, May-September 2009

In recent days some articles and comments appearing in the press with respect to the report of the United Nations (UN) fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict of 2008-2009 have misrepresented facts in an attempt to delegitimise the findings of this report and to cast doubts on its credibility.

The mission that comprised four members, including Justice Richard Goldstone as its chair, came to an end when it presented its report to the UN human rights council in September 2009. The report of the mission is now an official UN document and all actions taken pursuant to its findings and recommendations fall solely within the purview of the United Nations general assembly which, along with the human rights council, reviewed and endorsed it at the end of 2009.

Aspersions cast on the findings of the report, nevertheless, cannot be left unchallenged. Members of the mission, signatories to this statement, find it necessary to dispel any impression that subsequent developments have rendered any part of the mission's report unsubstantiated, erroneous or inaccurate.

We concur in our view that there is no justification for any demand or expectation for reconsideration of the report as nothing of substance has appeared that would in any way change the context, findings or conclusions of that report with respect to any of the parties to the Gaza conflict. Indeed, there is no UN procedure or precedent to that effect.

The report of the fact-finding mission contains the conclusions made after diligent, independent and objective consideration of the information related to the events within our mandate, and careful assessment of its reliability and credibility. We firmly stand by these conclusions.

Also, it is the prerogative of the UN to take cognisance of any evidence subsequently gathered under domestic procedures that it finds credible and in accordance with international standards. Over 18 months after publication of the report, however, we are very far from reaching that point.

The mandate of the mission did not require it to conduct a judicial or even a quasi-judicial investigation. The mission and the report are part of a truth-seeking process that could lead to effective judicial processes. Like all reports of similar missions of the UN, it provided the basis for parties to conduct investigations for gathering of evidence, as required by international law, and, if so warranted, prosecution of individuals who ordered, planned or carried out international crimes.

In the case of the Gaza conflict, we believe that both parties held responsible in this respect, have yet to establish a convincing basis for any claims that contradict the findings of the mission's report.

The report recommended that proper investigations and judicial processes should ideally be carried out first of all at the domestic level, with monitoring by the UN. If these proved inadequate, it laid down a roadmap for the continuation of such processes at the international level. In line with these recommendations, the UN human rights council appointed a committee of independent experts to monitor the independence, effectiveness and genuineness of any domestic proceedings carried out to investigate crimes and violations of international law pointed out in the mission's report.

Many of those calling for the nullification of our report imply that the final report by the follow-up committee's two members, Judge Mary McGowan Davis and Judge Lennart Aspergren, presented to the human rights council in March 2011, somehow contradicts the fact-finding mission's report or invalidates it.

In the light of the observations of this committee such claims are completely misplaced, and a clear distortion of their findings. The committee's report states that, according to available information, Israel has conducted some 400 command investigations into allegations by the fact-finding mission and other organisations. Command investigations are operational, not legal, inquiries and are conducted by personnel from the same command structure as those under investigation. Out of these, the committee reports that 52 criminal investigations into allegations of wrongdoings have been opened. Of these, three have been submitted for prosecution, with two of them resulting in convictions (one for theft of a credit card, resulting in a sentence of seven months' imprisonment, and another for using a Palestinian child as a human shield, which resulted in a suspended sentence of three months). The third case, related to allegations of deliberate targeting of an individual waving a white flag, is still ongoing.

The committee has expressed serious concerns about the late start and slow pace of the proceedings, their insufficient transparency and the participation of victims and witnesses. Out of the 36 incidents relating to Gaza described in the fact-finding mission report, more than one third remain unresolved or without a clear status over two years after the conflict. The committee concluded that the slow progress could seriously impair the effectiveness of the investigations and prospects of achieving justice and accountability. Therefore, the mechanisms that are being used by the Israeli authorities to investigate the incidents are proving inadequate to genuinely ascertain the facts and any ensuing legal responsibility.

In addition, with regard to the issue of the policies guiding Operation Cast Lead, the committee states that there is "no indication that Israel has opened investigations into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered and oversaw Operation Cast Lead". In other words, one of the most serious allegations about the conduct of Israel's military operations remains completely unaddressed.

We regret that no domestic investigations at all have been started into any of the allegations of international crimes committed by members of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza which have fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel. The committee observes the same in its report.

We consider that calls to reconsider or even retract the report, as well as attempts at misrepresenting its nature and purpose, disregard the right of victims, Palestinian and Israeli, to truth and justice. They also ignore the responsibility of the relevant parties under international law to conduct prompt, thorough, effective and independent investigations. We regret the personal attacks and the extraordinary pressure placed on members of the fact-finding mission since we began our work in May 2009. This campaign has been clearly aimed at undermining the integrity of the report and its authors. Had we given in to pressures from any quarter to sanitise our conclusions, we would be doing a serious injustice to the hundreds of innocent civilians killed during the Gaza conflict, the thousands injured, and the hundreds of thousands whose lives continue to be deeply affected by the conflict and the blockade.

The report has triggered a process that is still under way and should continue until justice is done and respect for international human rights and humanitarian law by everyone is ensured.

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 17:17 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Dat is onzin. Ik ben helemaal niet tegen Israël. Ik stel alleen objectief vast dat het oorlogsmisdadigers zijn die de holocaust dunnetjes over doen.

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 20:59 schreef Karrs het volgende:

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*LOL*

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 21:26 schreef C_N het volgende:
aktivist uit Italia gegrijzeld in de gazza strook .
.
dit bedoel ik de hamas en vrienden maken geen onderscheid
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4057173,00.html

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A video claiming to show the victim emerged from Gaza along with a demand by an extremist group to the Hamas government to release its leader, who was arrested last month. The group set a deadline of Friday afternoon, threatening to execute the hostage.

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 21:59 schreef johnnylove het volgende:
Het zijn salafisten de Ansar as-Sunna groep. 1 van de groeperingen in de staat "Palestina" en feitelijk felle tegenstanders van Hamas.

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 17:40 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 06:31 schreef C_N het volgende:
zo geef een voorbeeld van wat ik schrijf niet juist is .
eentje maar.

de nieuwe gristelijke bewoners in de westbank
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056696,00.html

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 17:40 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 10:48 schreef Dlocks het volgende:

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Als je dan ook nog eens zou aangeven welke informatie precies feitelijk onjuist is dan zou je nog wat zinvols toevoegen aan dit topic.

Ik zie Papierversnipperaar, Kees22 en NorthernStar -als ze al reageren op een gebeurtenis- bepaalde zaken afdoen met 'het is onzin' en/of 'onbetrouwbaar' en/of 'propaganda' zonder inhoudelijk te reageren. Daar kan ik dus helemaal niets mee.

Wat let jullie om feitelijk verslag te doen van de dagelijkse gebeurtenissen vanuit het Palestijnse oogpunt?

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 16:45 schreef C_N het volgende:

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ik heb nog nooit een antwoord gekregen .op mijn vraag noem een ding waar de palestijnse regeering en een resolutie waar de palestijnse regering en of hamas,zich heeft gehouden . .

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 12:21 schreef ArchEnemy het volgende:

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Het is geen kwestie van angst, maar van het waard zijn van tijd & aandacht.

Als je joden wilt haten dan ben je een uiterst lage Jodenhater. Hoe ingewikkeld je dat tegenwoordig ook mag maken. Mensen die in het dagelijks leven zo weinig voorstellen dat ze hun frustratie op iemand buiten de eigen sociale groep moeten afreageren om toch een waan van eigenwaarde te kunnen onderhouden (zie je ook bij PVV-aanhangers).

Elke vorm van aandacht die je ze geeft voedt die haat, omdat ze er dan het nut van gaan zien. Joden haten = gezien worden als iets dat gevaarlijk is, dus blijkbaar stellen we als mens toch wel iets voor!

Kijk, en dat is nou de grootste vergissing. Antisemieten zijn nog altijd hatende losers. Elke vorm van aandacht is tijdverspilling. Elke vorm van respect is het laten groeien van die haat. Dus je zou wel gek zijn als je daaraan mee zou werken.

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Op donderdag 14 april 2011 04:03 schreef NorthernStar het volgende:
Ik heb groot respect voor je Kees maar laat ze toch in hun eigen sop gaarkoken. Je verspilt je moeite aan een handjevol users en een heuse propagandist die helemaal niet in feiten of discussie geïnteresseerd zijn. Extremisten die joodse superioriteit aanhangen en Palestijnen als minderwaardig beschouwen. Laat ze in hun eigen sop gaarkoken. Als jij en een sporadische poster hen geen tegengeluid (en dus geen validatie) meer geeft is het niks meer dan een obscene circle jerk. Op hunzelf na is er toch geen hond die het nog leest.

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Op vrijdag 15 april 2011 01:42 schreef Kees22 het volgende:

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Ik vind eigenlijk, dat onzin weersproken moet worden.
In het Nederlandse recht geldt, dat een uitspraak die niet weersproken wordt, voor waar geldt.
Dus ik weerspreek waar ik kan. (Althans: als ik de onzin belangrijk genoeg vind!)
Je hebt gelijk dat een topic als dit gekaapt kan worden en dan wel erg gaat lijken op een variant van VolksFront. Waar je je liever niet mee inlaat.
Misschien moet ik dat maar gaan doen. Er zijn werl leukere dingen in het leven dan VolksFrontaanhangers weerwoord te bieden.
Oh sorry: ik bedoelde natuurlijk zionisten.

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Op vrijdag 15 april 2011 12:01 schreef Dlocks het volgende:
In Gaza ontvoerde Italiaan dood gevonden

Een donderdag in de Gazastrook ontvoerde Italiaanse activist is dood aangetroffen in een huis in Gaza-Stad. De man werd gevonden na een vuurgevecht tussen de Hamas-politie en de ontvoerders van de pro-Palestijnse activist.

Lees verder: In Gaza ontvoerde Italiaan dood gevonden

[ afbeelding ]

Deze Italiaan was overigens pro-Palestina.

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Op vrijdag 15 april 2011 12:40 schreef Ronnie_bravo het volgende:

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Dan weet je dat je risico loopt.... laat het een voorbeeld zijn.