http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23899.htm


Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today (November 04, 2009) made the following statement on the House Floor about H. Res 867, which condemns the ‘Goldstone Report’ or the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:

“Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist.

“Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian.

“The resolution before us today, which would reject all attempts of the Goldstone Report to fix responsibility of all parties to war crimes, including both Hamas and Israel, may as well be called the “Down is Up, Night is Day, Wrong is Right” resolution.

“Because if this Congress votes to condemn a report it has not read, concerning events it has totally ignored, about violations of law of which it is unaware, it will have brought shame to this great institution.

“How can we ever expect there to be peace in the Middle East if we tacitly approve of violations of international law and international human rights, if we look the other way, or if we close our eyes to the heartbreak of people on both sides by white-washing a legitimate investigation?

“How can we protect the people of Israel from existential threats if we hold no concern for the protection of the Palestinians, for their physical security, their right to land, their right to their own homes, their right to water, their right to sustenance, their right to freedom of movement, their right to the human security of jobs, education and health care?

“We will have peace only when the plight of both Palestinians and Israelis is brought before this House and given equal consideration in recognition of that principle that all people on this planet have a right to survive and thrive, and it is our responsibility, our duty to see that no individual, no group, no people are barred from this humble human claim.”

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 838
H RES 867 3-Nov-2009 5:41 PM
BILL TITLE: Calling 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.

YEAS - 344
NAYS - 36
PRESENT - 22
No Vote - 30

See link for your Representive's vote.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125986.html

Last update - 17:12 05/11/2009

U.S. dodges UN debate on Goldstone Gaza report

By News Agencies

The United States on Wednesday openly eschewed a United Nations General Assembly debate on a resolution that would call on Israel and the Palestinians to investigate charges of war crimes during the Gaza war detailed in the Goldstone Commission's report.

The nonbinding resolution on the Goldstone report, which looked certain to be approved by the 192-nation assembly, also requests that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submit the 575-page report to the Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice skipped the discussion and sent her deputy, Alejandro Wolff, as an observer instead.

The report, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council and published on Sept. 15, lambasted both sides in the December-January conflict, which killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but was harsher toward Israel.

Diplomats say there is little chance that the report or the Arab-drafted resolution could lead to punishment of either side. But it has enraged Israel and galvanized American Jews.

In the assembly debate, Arab envoys praised the report by South African jurist Richard Goldstone and demanded an end to what they called the Israel's impunity. But Israel damned the document as "conceived in hate and executed in sin.""

There is no veto in the assembly and the resolution looked sure to win a majority. But with more than 40 envoys listed to speak, most of them from Arab and other Muslim countries, it was unclear when the vote would take place.

Israel's ally the United States was one of a small number of countries expected to vote against the resolution. In a clear warning to the administration, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to oppose UN endorsement of Goldstone's findings.

Most members of the 27-nation European Union were likely to abstain, although diplomats said negotiations were underway with the Arabs to agree a text the Europeans could support.

The diplomats said the EU opposed the resolution's implicit endorsement of the Goldstone report, which Western states have called flawed, although making important points.

Representing the EU, Ambassador Anders Liden of Sweden, the bloc's current president, called the report serious and urged Israel and the Palestinians to launch "appropriate, credible and independent investigations" into its charges.

But Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev gave no hint that her country, which refused to cooperate with Goldstone, would respond.

In her address to the assembly, she attacked both the Goldstone Report and the international body as being "irreparably tainted" and "bending both fact and law."

The ambassador also said the report, which accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during their war in the Gaza Strip in January, was "born in hate and prepared in sin."

"[The] report and this debate do not promote peace; they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region," added Shalev, who was one of the first speakers at the assembly's debate on the report.

The ambassador said the report ignored "the reality of terror" and the complexities of urban warfare against terrorists.

She also dismissed the Goldstone panel as "a politicized body with predetermined conclusions."

Shalev reminded the General Assembly that Israel had suffered eight years of rocket attacks from Gaza, which violated the human rights of Israeli civilians.

"[But] rather than discuss how to better stop terrorist groups who deliberately target civilians, this body launches yet another campaign against the victims of terrorism, the people of Israel," she said.

Time and again, Shalev charged, the report turned Israel's unprecedented efforts to save civilian lives against it, using them as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore deliberate.

She also criticized the report for dismissing Israel's independent legal system, its investigations of misconduct in the armed forces, and its right to self-defense.

Goldstone's report urged the Security Council to order both sides to carry out credible investigations into alleged abuses during the conflict and to follow that up with legal action where necessary.

If either side refuses, the panel said, the Security Council should forward the evidence to the International Criminal Court, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, for prosecution.

Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour, meanwhile, rejected Israel's principal argument that the report ignored the Jewish state's right to defend itself. Israel attacked Gaza on Dec. 27 to try to stamp out Palestinian rocket fire against Israeli cities.

Of 36 incidents in Gaza investigated by Goldstone, "with only one exception, the facts prove that there were no military targets that could justify such attacks by the Israeli occupying forces," Mansour said.

He also reaffirmed that the Palestinian Authority was ready to investigate Goldstone's charges against the Palestinians. But the West Bank-based authority has no control over the Hamas authorities in Gaza.

The resolution follows Goldstone in calling on Israel and "the Palestinian side" to undertake within three months credible investigations into the report's charges.

It also asks Ban to submit the report to the Security Council. But diplomats said all five veto-wielding permanent council members opposed council involvement, so it was unlikely the 15-nation body would take action.

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http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/16/un_i...el_punished_and

Judge Goldstone’s daughter was interviewed on Israeli army radio. She spoke in Hebrew. And she responded about her father. She described him as a Zionist who loves Israel. She said that

“My father took on this job, because he thought he’s doing the best thing for peace for everyone and also for Israel.”

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http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/1/headlines#13

Israeli PM: UN Gaza Inquiry “Opposes Peace”
October 01. 2009

The Israeli government meanwhile is reportedly considering establishing an inquiry on UN allegations it committed war crimes in the assault on the Gaza Strip earlier this year. It’s unclear if the proposal under consideration would probe the allegations or focus on how to deal with avoiding prosecution under international law. An Israeli cabinet minister has proposed establishing a commission to assess the UN inquiry’s judicial ramifications. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the UN report, saying those who take it seriously “oppose peace.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Those who support Goldstone, the Goldstone report, oppose peace, because there’s not a government in sight, there’s not a citizen—not consensus. There won’t be an Israeli public that will say, ‘Let us take additional risk for peace, because whatever happens, we’ll have the right of self-defense.’ This report is a blow to peace because it says that Israel cannot defend itself.”

Netanyahu’s comments come as the head of the inquiry, Judge Richard Goldstone, continues to defend the report’s findings. In an interview with CNN, Goldstone said he believes Israel intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians in the Gaza assault.
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http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/23/headlines#4

Goldstone Challenges Obama to Explain Gaza Inquiry Objections
October 23, 2009

As the US challenges Sri Lanka, the head of a UN inquiry into the US-backed assault on Gaza is challenging the Obama administration to explain why it’s worked to minimize the inquiry’s findings that Israel committed multiple war crimes. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Judge Richard Goldstone said the White House had raised “concerns” about the report but hasn’t explained them.

Judge Richard Goldstone: “It seems to be still developing. It’s been ambivalent, I think. The Obama administration joined our recommendation calling for full, good-faith investigations, both in Israel and in Gaza, but said that the report was flawed. But I have yet to hear from the Obama administration what the flaws in the report that they’ve identified are. I mean, I’d be happy to respond to them, if and when I know what they are.”

Last week the US voted against a UN Human Rights Council resolution endorsing the report’s recommendations that both sides of the Gaza conflict probe war crimes allegations or face international prosecution. The resolution has been forwarded to the Security Council, where it’s expected to face a US veto.

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