Israel-Palestine: UN Council Endorses Goldstone Report --- What Now?

Israel-Palestine: No UN Progress on Goldstone Report on Gaza
Transcript: The Palestinian Authority Draft to UN Human Rights Council (15 October)

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On Friday the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsed the Goldstone Report, which found evidence of war crimes by both Hamas and Israel in the Gaza War. The vote was 25-6 with 16 abstentions. The US opposed the resolution while Britain and France did not vote. (The full list is at the bottom of the entry.)

The five-page resolution was remarkable for two reasons. First, it not only condemned Israeli crimes during Operation Cast Lead but also, beyond the war, denounced Israeli human rights violations in east Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Second, although Goldstone Report cites both Hamas and Israel, the resolution explicitly names only Israel as a violator of international law. Goldstone criticized the UN decision to condemn only Israel, saying that the wording of the resolution was unfortunate.

Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the resolution and called the decision "unjust":

Israel will continue to exercise its right to self-defense and to preserve the security of its citizens.

Israel believes that the decision harms efforts to protect human rights in accordance with international law and hinders efforts to promote the peace process as well as encouraging terror organizations around the world.

Israel thanks the countries that supported our position, and those who, with their vote, voiced their opposition to the unjust decision which ignores the murderous Hamas attacks against Israeli citizens... The decision ignores the fact that the Israel Defense Forces took unprecedented measures to avoid harming innocent civilians, and the fact that terror organizations used civilians as human shields in Gaza.

In contrast, Hamas welcomed the decision and said that they hoped that it would lead to "the beginning of the prosecution of the leaders of the occupation". The Palestinian Authority said that a follow-up on implementation of the recommandations in the report, "to protect the Palestinian people from Israeli aggression", was needed.

This may be the end of the line, however, for the report. The resolution asks that the Security Council forward the findings to the International Criminal Court, but the US, France, and Britain are unlikely to support the move. Indeed, with substantive action unlikely, the resolution may be an unexpected victory for Israel, with the United Nations proving its "one-sided position".

FOR the resolution: Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djbouti, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia

AGAINST the resolution: United States, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia and Ukraine

ABSTAINING: Belgium, Bosnia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Korea, Slovenia, Uruguay, Britain, France, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan and Angola

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The Palestinian Authority, trying to fend off increasing pressure over its deferral of the Goldstone Report at the United Nations Human Rights Council last week, called for a general strike in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest Israel's "measures against the al-Aqsa Mosque" and asked the Human Rights Council to discuss both the Goldstone Report and the recent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli policemen in East Jerusalem .
On Friday, the Central Council of Fatah, the party of the Palestinian Authority leadership, called on the populace to mobilize "in defense" of al-Aqsa Mosque, protesting Israel's restrictions on access. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the UN, said, "We deferred, so we were expecting that the Israelis should respect in some way human rights, but this act of aggression against people, against the human rights and humanitarian law, is unbelievable."

Israeli media, however, report that the Palestinian move will be blocked by the US, which is supposedly embarrassed by the situation. Israeli officials claim that the "number one topic" for US envoy George Mitchell during his meeting with Palestinian officials was to convince them not to pursue the initiative.

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The Goldstone Report on the Gaza War is no longer a set of findings on possible crimes by both sides during the fighting. So, an enquiry that was supposed to cast bring light on the bombed rubbleis now  a political tool to be wielded against the "enemy". And that is not only the "enemy" in the Israel-Palestine conflict but also within Palestinian politics.

Yesterday the Palestinian UN Mission issued a press release saying asserting full support for the Libyan request for a meeting of the UN Security Council. However, Libya's proposal was rejected. Although the Council decided to move its next meeting from 20 October to 14 October, Washington's position was clear. US Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that the Obama Administration would not approve any decision:

The report needs to be discussed by the Human Rights Council, and decisions on what next steps and what is the appropriate disposition of this report are decisions that will be taken in Geneva. So, for Washington, it is not the Report itself [but] the peace process [that] is more significant.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas tried to repair his political position, damaged by the PA's initial support for deferral of a UN vote on the Report. An Abbas associate said, "If Israel does not soften its positions on the peace process, the Palestinian Authority will resume pushing to get the Goldstone report moved to the Security Council, and thence to the International Criminal Court." Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the French media that the PA could reveal the names of all the countries who pressured Abbas to defer the UN vote and, instead, negotiate with Israel without preconditions.

Hamas is increasing its bargaining power with the claim that Abbas deferred the UN vote because Israel threatened to expose his support for its war on Gaza. Egypt had announced that Hamas and Fatah would sign an accord on October 25, but on Wednesday, some Hamas officials said on Wednesday hat this was not the appropriate time for a deal. Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, reportedly told Egyptians to either postpone or call off the planned intra-Palestinian conference in the wake of Abbas's "high treason".

Palestinian Leaders Support Israel to Defer Vote on Goldstone Report

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On Thursday, Palestinian Authority agreed to delay until March a vote set for today at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. If the report had been endorsed by the Council, the UN Security Council would have been able to bring Israelis before the International Criminal Court at The Hague for prosecution of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Although support for the report was strong enough to get a general endorsement, six nations (US, Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, and Britain) could not find common ground on the text with the other 41 members.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN , Ibrahim Khraishi, told The Jerusalem Post that the Palestinian side was interested in a compromise rather than a quickly-passed resolution from the Council: "It will help us to explain to the Israelis that the international community is with the Palestinians to achieve their hopes and their dreams." There are reports President Obama personally told the Palestinians that the peace process would be affected adversely by a vote for the Goldstone Report.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

I remind you that this very council has adopted more resolutions targeting Israel than resolutions targeting all other 180 countries in the world put together. If the council decides to endorse the Goldstone report it will deal a fatal blow to three major issues: Firstly, it will harm the war on terror, because it will legitimize terrorists who hide behind civilians and fire from their midst.

The second devastating blow will be to the UN's status and its prestige. It will take it back to its darkest days when absurd decisions were passed within its assembly and empty it of all meaning.

Thirdly, Israel will not be willing to take risks for peace if stripped of its right to self-defense.