On Israel, Congress Tolerates Abuse
Yesterday the US Congress gravely insulted hundreds of civilians who were wounded or killed in the most recent war in the Middle East.
By a vote of 344 to 36, the House condemned the report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, also known as the Goldstone report, which documents violations of the laws of war by Israel and Hamas during the conflict last December and January. The 179 Democrats and 165 Republicans who voted yea are helping to shield those responsible on both sides.
The resolution succumbs to predictable American politics, in which criticisms of Israeli actions are rejected as delegitimizing attacks on Israel, and even as anti-Semitism. It misses a chance to break the impunity on all sides that has dogged the conflict and impeded efforts at peace. And, most significant for US foreign policy, it gives abusive governments around the world a handy excuse to deflect US criticism of their own unlawful conduct.
The nonbinding Resolution 867 calls the Goldstone report "irredeemably biased" and says the president and secretary of state should "oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration" of the report in multilateral forums. It says the report is being used to deny Israel the right to self-defense.
The 344 supporters have apparently not read the report. The 575-page document records violations of the laws of war by Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and concludes that all sides committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Both Israelis and Palestinians need to carry out investigations that meet international standards or face international prosecution.
The UN Human Rights Council adopted the report's conclusions in October, and the General Assembly is scheduled to consider the report later this week. The resolution before Congress rightly condemns the Human Rights Council's past bias against Israel, but ignores that in this case the Council asked the Goldstone mission to also examine Palestinian armed groups and then endorsed the findings that Hamas committed war crimes.
The report's conclusions about Israeli violations reflect the mission's research findings and not a "pre-judged" outcome, as the resolution suggests. Israel's three-week Operation Cast Lead involved a complex and multi-faceted campaign in which hundreds of civilians died in indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
Co-sponsored by Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democrat Howard Berman, the resolution is also wrong on a number of points. The resolution contends that the fact-finding mission's mandate was biased, but fails to mention that the mandate was deliberately expanded to look at both sides. And the resolution claims that Hamas significantly shaped the report's findings "by selecting and pre-screening some of the witnesses." Goldstone has adamantly rejected that claim, and no one has provided any evidence that Hamas selected or pre-screened witnesses.*
The resolution also repeats an oft-heard critique that the report "denied the State of Israel the right to self-defense." The report does not question Israel's right to use military force. It examines whether Israel and Hamas, in resorting to force, conducted military operations in compliance with the laws of armed conflict, which are designed to spare civilians as much as possible the hazards of war.
Congressional critics also ignore elements of the report that the Obama administration has embraced. Top US officials have strongly criticized the Goldstone report but have also said that the findings deserve attention and that Israel should conduct credible investigations. Some Israeli officials are now saying the same.
Rejecting the call for accountability also harms the US government's ability to push for justice in other parts of the world, such as the Congo and Darfur. When Washington turns a blind eye on violations by Israel, it gives abusive governments and their supporters a way to deflect criticisms of their unlawful conduct. It also dilutes President Obama's message in Cairo that the United States will take a more principled stance in the Middle East.
This approach and this resolution will not help Israel or the region. Instead of denouncing the report, members of Congress should urge Israel and Hamas to conduct credible investigations, bring those responsible to justice and halt the unlawful attacks on civilians that for too long has fueled hatred and hindered efforts at peace.
* CorrectionThis paragraph has been corrected from an earlier version that mistakenly said the resolution condemns the Goldstone report for failing to mention rocket and mortar attacks. It actually condemns the mandate of the fact-finding mission in this regard, not the report itself.
Fred Abrahams is a senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch, who led the organization's research team during the Gaza war.
Ray Hanania: Re-Energizing The Two-State Solution To Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Yes, I'm running for President of Palestine in the next election. No, I don't expect to win. My goal is to get the real leaders to do their jobs and stop putzing around.
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A few observations:
-You suggest that to assail this biased report on Israel, the US is undermined when dealing with other countries. That is far from the truth. The reality is that taking the UNHCR to task for its overwhelmingly biased and undending negative assesments of Israel will not preclude our leadership in dealing with other countries. Indeed, a strong case can be made that such a contentious situation such as Israel should be left aside by the UNHCR until it can restore it credibility by an even handed approach to all other contries. Indeed, as we speak Saudi Arabia is flying american jets to bomb Yemeni civilians. And Iran continues to hold many in detention for protesting the stolen election. And in this hemisphere, Venezuela violates the human rights of its citizens and other Latin Amercan countries.
- You assert that the Goldstone Report does not address the right of Israel to self defense. While the report does not address the issue as you frame it, the clear intention of this lopsided report is to chill any future use of force by Israel to defend itself. Thus, while this report may not seek to indict Israelis on the issue of use of force specifically, (though it clearly will accept nothing less than Israelis standing charged with War Crimes for other reasons) Goldstone/UNHCR want to preclude use of force in the future. Meanwhile, Hamas faces no such chill as it openly resorts to actions as suicide bombing and rocket attacks.
What was clear from the Goldstone report was that the policies employed by all parties to the conflict could be deemed as war crimes. However what was chilling about the report was that the Mission was able to cite specific comments from Israeli government and military officials that the objectives of operation cast lead was to target the civilian population of Gaza. That is what people want to sweep under the table - it was not an attack on the military operations in Gaza but all out war on the entire population.
I'm not sure that 'tolerates' is the correct word. 'Encourages or promotes' would be more fitting.
It is time for the rest of the world to ignore the US, the tepid Obama administration and solve the Palestinian crisis with some other state actors, most likely the new EU foreign policy minister. America has no leadership to offer - it is a partner for Israel only, complicit in Israel's ongoing colonial occupation and land grab - to be regarded as indivisible from Israel, economically, militarily and ideologically. For both nations, justice is only for the rich and powerful, ends justify any means and civilians lives are cheaper than dirt.
Europe is in a position to launch a powerful boycott that would cripple Israel and force them to the negotiating table. I agree that the rest of the world shouldn't wait for the U.S. Our government is paralyzed with fear of angering AIPAC and the rest of the pro-Israel lobby.
what ever ai.pac does this includes buyout of congress nothing will happen, people are sick of hearing about abuses of , prrsos
Hamas, for whatever reason, decided to fire hundreds of rockets into Israel targeting civilians. They hid military equipment in civilian homes, mosques and other public places. They have kept an Israeli soldier prisoner for years without access to the Red Cross. They torture and kill their political opponents In short they have violated nearly all of the Geneva accords. And yet the author and most of the comments here seem to feel that Israel, responding to an attack by Hamas, is to blame for war crimes. If Israel is guilty of war crimes for defending itself and in the process of doing so causing unavoidable civilian casualties then so is the United States and Great Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan.. So the question must be asked why is Israel being singled out? Although the Goldstone report makes a pretense of being unbiased, almost all the allegations of violations of the laws of war are against Israel and not Hamas. Israel is accused of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks while fighting an enemy entrenched in civilian areas and who used civilians as shields. Hamas is the aggressor, yet Israel stands accused; obviously there are other agendas in play here.
"..., for whatever reason, ..."
If you are not sure of the reason, I will tell you. The israelis crowded the Palestinians into the open air prison called Gaza and began harassing the residents with everything from border checks to mortars and artillery. The Palestinians in Gaza responded as best they could. The reason for creating Gaza was to remove from israel proper 1.3 million Arabs who were potential israeli citizens and voters.
The assertion in the rest of your comment are false or misleading. Back them up with citations or expect them to be ignored.
Everyone in the world knows of Gilead the one and only israeli held captive. How many thousands of Palestinians (or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands) are held without charges or legal relief by israel?
israel was not defending itself against rockets when it invaded Gaza. It was to bolster the poll numbers of Levi and Barak in the election. If it was a defensive invasion, why not invade during the previous 8 years?
It is you who is revising history to cover up a shameful history.
The people of Gaza are held prisoner by Hamas not Israel. Gaza was never part of modern Israel it belonged to Egypt. Palestinian prisoners in Israel are treated in accordance with the rule of law and have access to the Red Cross. Your opinion as to the proximate cause of the start of Cast Lead is your opinion. From the beginning of the modern state of Israel the Palestinian leadership has made bad choices that resulted in the situation today . No revision of history needed - the facts speak for themselves.
Hamas does not have checkpoints at the borders and does not patrol the coastal waters with gunboats. Hamas does not decide who can come and go. The Foreign Minister of France 3 weeks ago asked to visit Gaza and was refused - not by Hamas but by Bibi.
The opinion that the proximate cause of the Gaza incursion was israeli politics was widely discussed in the msm at the time. It is not just my opinion. Your opinion or position that israel was acting in self defense cannot be supported with facts.
The facts do indeed speak for themselves. And they speak volumes.
"The israelis crowded the Palestinians into the open air prison called Gaza and began harassing the residents with everything from border checks to mortars and artillery."
Can you provide an example of when the "israelis crowded the Palestinians into... Gaza"?
I may be mistaken, but my impression is that Israel never physically moved anyone into Gaza. Could you provide any examples of the Israeli govt. forcibly moving any significant number of people into Gaza?
get your facts straight!
Almost 1,400 Palestinians dead. Nine members of the "Cast Lead" crew dead, six due to friendly fire.
Israel - the perpetual victim.
Does it matter to you that the first two Palestinian civilians that died were two teenage sisters whose house in Gaza, was hit by a Hamas missile, fired at Israel, that didn't make it out of Gaza?
Yes, and today Abbas announced that he will not run again and that he reseigns. He cites, a.o., that HAMAS MAKES EXCUSES NOT TO RECONCILE WITH FATAH WHILE KEEPING ITS OWN PEOPLE (In Gaza, I guess??) UNDER SIEGE. Let us hear what Abbas says.
Haha, "for whatever reason.." They're an inherently violent bunch these Palestinians, aren't they?
If Hamas disarmed and declared peace with Israel, there would be peace and prosperity in Gaza. If Israel disarmed and declared peace with the arab world, they would be smoldering ashes in a matter of days.
Considering the hate and indiscriminate violence foisted on them, Israel has shown remarkable restraint.
How's that gig as a member of megaphone working out?
??? Help me understand. What's your point?
I find it interesting that you didn't actually address the veracity of what flacon is saying. He/she may or may not be correct, but you have pretty much conceded the point. Was that your intention?
Not one soul grasps what YOU are talking about. But it appears that Abbas has given some elaboration on the Hamas issue. We will all hear it today, I guess.
There is minimal conflict in the West Bank, yet the israeli settlers and government are taking their land and homes every day. Their lives are made miserable every day. A peaceful Gaza would do no good.
remarkable restraint?
Why yes if I stole someones property, then beat them, as long as Im jewish - Im showing "remarkable restraint"
Great way to switch the argument - no one is asking Israel to disarm - just stop the blockade of Gaza and stop killing Palestinian civilians would be a nice start on the road to real peace. When the body count is 1,400 dead Palestinians and 13 dead Israelis - then the Israeli claims about concerns for its welfare and that of its citizens seems to be pretty one sided. Not to mention the knee-jerk vote of the members of Congress which continues to see a vote for Israel as a potential vote and campaign contribution.
Israel had the opportunity to have peace with and recognition by it's Arab neighbors. It refused.
The Arab Peace Initiative [2] was floated by then acting Saudi regent Crown Prince Abdullah as a potential solution to both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was published on March 28, 2002, during the meeting of the Arab League at the Beirut Summit, and achieved the unanimous consent of all members of the Arab League.
Considered a progressive proposal , it calls for the state of Israel to withdraw its forces from all the Occupied Territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. In exchange the Arab states affirmed that they would recognize the state of Israel, consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over and establish "normal relations" with Israel.
(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Arab_League_summit)
It must be deeply troubling for the 90% of moderate Israelis to have to sit on the sidelines as the world at large condemns the whole state for the political maneuverings of the few. Israel has sunk from a beacon of recovery and hope to near being the poster-child of abuse in few too many years. My heart goes out to them and the Palestinians for being made into the new apartheid regime.
Apartheid regime? In which Palestinians have the right to vote on their own government. Yeah, try selling that as Apartheid to Nelson Mandela
South Africa has no corner on political, economic and racial discrimination. All other definitions of the crime of apartheid are merely semantics.
The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People (1997)
"The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People", Pretoria December 4th 1997
I have come to join you today to add our own voice to the universal call for Palestinian self-determination and statehood. We would be beneath our own reason for existence as government and as a nation, if the resolution of the problems of the Middle East did not feature prominently on our agenda.
When in 1977, the United Nations passed the resolution inaugurating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, it was asserting the recognition that injustice and gross human rights violations were being perpetrated in Palestine. In the same period, the UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system.
We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
By government - you mean a government that only has as much power as the Israelis are willing to give it - the student council at my old high school had more authority.
The US Congress has no one to blame but itself for coming out on the side of the war-mongers. Nothing new here, but what is different this time is the widespread airing of this sadly ridiculous vote on the international satellite channels. While many of their pro-Israel, one-sided votes of the past have been buried in the US media, & not given undue attention around the world, the Goldstone controversy is different. Is it because of the blanket coverage of the IDF attack on families in Gaza by the world media? The importance of the issue of human rights to so many around the world? The hypocrisy of our leadership, past & recent? The eyes & ears of the worldwide public is watching the responses not only our Congress but also the Obama adm. What they see is yet more evidence of how the American leaders violate their own ideals to provide cover to those on the wrong side of history.
Resolution 867 is filled with half truths and outright lies. Goldstone responded to those lies but truth did not get in the way of politics.
To call the Gaza conflict a war is insane, it was a massacre. The Israelis used white phosporous (burning to death 14 people including several children in one attack), they used flechettes designed to inflict maximum damage, and highly carcinogenic tungsten shrapnel and dime munitions. All this in a densely populated area. In addition to conducting collective punishment, a war crime in itself, the Israelis are using Gaza as a proving ground for one of their largest export industries, military weapons.
The Israelis bombed the only remaining flour mill, leveled a chicken farm and killed thousands of militant chickens that were supporters of Hamas.
As has been said many times by many people, Congress is Israeli occupied territory. A first step to reclaim our country is to classify AIPAC as an agent of a foreign government.
great blog Donatellea . . .well said . . our Congress and israel are the two biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East . . . you are so right about Congress . . . we have to revolt
A law to forbid Americans with dual citizenship from serving in our government would be a good step. There are only three nations in the world that condemned this report; the US, Israel, and that famous member of the "Coalition of the Willing", Palau.
Were you under the impression that war was fair?
When one side fires missiles across an internationally recognized border and the other side sends planes and tanks and bombs, it's a war. War is bad. That's why it is to be avoided. You can't make the argument that when it's very bad it ceases to be war.
There is nothing worse than war, even when there is asymmetry involved.
This was not a war it was a mugging.
Look here as to why this vote happened:
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001057.html
Great article. The folks around here aren't trying to understand the facts of what the Goldstone Report is and what's wrong with it, they just see Goldstone as anti-Israel and therefore holy and infallible (just like the Palestinians).
The Zionists of Israel condemn the report by a man who is a self-proclaimed Zionist.
war is immoral , how can there be rules of conduct
Oh Dear Me LonelyGod - Simple minded would be a more accurate description of your response above - but then again I must assume you herald from the US.
By the way - have you actually read Mr Goldstone's report - or indeed the Torah? Could be a good plan. Or is it perhaps that your God is a particularly jealous God today?
'Jealousy - that doth mock the very flesh it feeds upon'
'To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter'
Besides Goldstone & the Torah - try Shakespeare & Francois Sagan too - all four may introduce you to the concept of humanity - tricky I know - but it could work, with the application of a smidgen of intellect & humility!
As to placing yourselves in Israel's shoes - have you ever considered a similarly empathetic exercise at other times toward for example Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Chile, Pakistan, Iran, The Muslim world in general, Those beneath Predator Drones or the lucky recipients of cluster bombs at weddings, Palestinians - or indeed any other representatives of humankind who have benefited from the largesse of American democratic freedom projection? Just wondered!
What actual terrorists are you fighting in Afghanistan anyway - and what kind of joke of a Government are you supporting - and do you learn nothing from History?
Cheerio
Cheerio
War is a fact of life. Always has been and always will be. It is human.
It's simple: The US Congress saw themselves in Israel's shoes. This is something that, apparently, other governments cannot or will not do.
The US was attacked. The US is now fighting against the people who attacked them. They are killing hundreds of innocent people to do so. They want don't want to be sued for war crimes by the people who they are fighting, when they know that it is only Obama who will be put on the docket and not Osama Bin Laden.
It may come as a surprise, but actions have consequences. And legal actions make precedent. If terrorists can sue the people who fight them by playing the victim and waving the bloody shirt, they won't stop with Israel. Oh no. America and Britain will be next.
It's easy for most of Europe and for the Arab nations to endorse Goldstone. They aren't fighting terrorists (and they may be helping the terrorists) so they don't need to worry about the lawfare weapon being turned against them. But our US Congress is a little more far-sighted than that.
I'm sorry 'LonelyGod', but precisely what planet do you live on?
'It's easy for most of Europe and for the Arab nations to endorse Goldstone. They aren't fighting terrorists'.
Are you sure about this? Have you missed the fact that the UK, Germany and Italy all have troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan? Or that the UK has had troops in Iraq for 6 years? Or indeed that the Lebanese Government periodically squares off with Hezbollah, that Yemen is fighting a civil war, that Algeria has spent two decades suppressing an insurgency?
Perhaps you should familiarise yourself more clearly with events outside your own country before making such rash statements.
Notice the "most of Europe" phrase, NPH. Not all of Europe.
That being said, the US you mentioned has sustained more than half of the casualties in Afghanistan (a good measure of who is doing the most fighting), and America is the principle driving force behind the war and the Predator drone strikes, which are significant because they kill so many civilians. I am not saying that other nations aren't involved, but that America will be the one on the docket if the Taliban decides to sue the coalition.
I notice that you didn't disagree with my actual point.
People seem to forget that the Europeans for many years have had terrorist (or freedom fighters) at their doorsteps. The English and Irish, in Germany, Italy and the Red Brigade, Spain and the Basque. Europe lived this for years before the 9/11 attacks.
I plan on finding out how my congressmen voted on this issue. I will not vote for one that jumped on this bandwagon.
AIPAC back in business I see - nothing new there then - other than the ratcheting up still further of global contempt & ridicule for the USA and continued incredulity that US domestic and foreign policy should so continue to be dictated by Israel! Ah well - with Hillary on the rampage making friends and influencing people across Asia & the Middle East so spectacularly in the last couple of weeks maybe all will be forgiven....
To paraphrase Strewel Pieter: 'The US tells such dreadful lies - it makes one gasp and stretch one's eyes'
It's also the breathtaking stupidity and conviction that anyone could possibly take Congress or the US seriously as 'Honest Brokers' or otherwise that continues to amaze........apart from the hair trigger self-righteous aggression of course which we all have to be wary of. But there is hope - debt will get them in the end - with a little more help from China, India and Brazil to chivvy things along!
Pip Pip
This vote is shameful and insulting to all Americans.
I concur.
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