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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-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 overwhelmi
- 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 specifical
If you are not sure of the reason, I will tell you. The israelis crowded the Palestinia
The assertion in the rest of your comment are false or misleading
Everyone in the world knows of Gilead the one and only israeli held captive. How many thousands of Palestinia
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 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
Considerin
"The Internatio
I have come to join you today to add our own voice to the universal call for Palestinia
When in 1977, the United Nations passed the resolution inaugurati
We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinia
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He also once said that "Anyone who thinks history cannot be revised has never written his memoirs."
The zionists will weather public opinion until they have all of ersetz israel. Then they will enter a final peace agreement on their terms. There will be no peace before then if they can help it.
At that point they will begin to revise history to eliminate their shameful past. Those who remember will die and the young will move on and forget.
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 carcinogen
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
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By the way - have you actually read Mr Goldstone'
'Jealousy - that doth mock the very flesh it feeds upon'
'To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter'
Besides Goldstone & the Torah - try Shakespear
As to placing yourselves in Israel's shoes - have you ever considered a similarly empathetic exercise at other times toward for example Iraq, Afghanista
What actual terrorists are you fighting in Afghanista
Cheerio
Cheerio
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 consequenc
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
'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 Afghanista
Perhaps you should familiaris
That being said, the US you mentioned has sustained more than half of the casualties in Afghanista
I notice that you didn't disagree with my actual point.
To paraphrase Strewel Pieter: 'The US tells such dreadful lies - it makes one gasp and stretch one's eyes'
It's also the breathtaki
Pip Pip