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UN Commences Discussion Of The Goldstone Report
By DAVID BEDEIN, Middle East Correspondent
Jerusalem – The UN General Assembly began a special discussion about the conclusions of the Goldstone report regarding Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The Goldstone commission had been assigned by the United Nations to examine alleged “war crimes of Israel” in Gaza.
The party that initiated the discussion of the Goldstone report in the UN is the Arab League, which has been in an active war with Israel since the inception of the Jewish state in 1948.
The Arab League hopes to pass a resolution calling for the report to be passed to the UN Security Council, which is the only UN agency that has powers of legislative enforcement.
Following the increase in the number of countries that wished to make statements during the discussion – more than 40 – the discussion is expected to continue for a long time, and it is not yet clear whether the resolution will be brought for a vote immediately after the discussion ends.
At the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel has dispatched its former ambassador to the UN, Danny Gillerman, in order to help in the public relations battle.
In a speech that she gave on Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev leveled sharp criticism at what she termed “cynical political maneuvers” by the UN Human Rights Council, which is behind the report that criticizes Israel so harshly.
“This is the same Human Rights Council which rejected any investigation regarding the constant firing of 12,000 rockets and mortars by Hamas, over eight years, on towns and villages in Israel,” she said. “The basic human rights of nearly one million Israeli citizens did not matter then. Are we now to believe that the council’s latest incarnation is honest, objective and fair?”
Riyad Mansour, The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s observer at the UN, accused Israel of “crimes according to international law and crimes against humanity,” and called for Israel “to be punished for criminal responsibility for killings in Gaza.”
David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us
The party that initiated the discussion of the Goldstone report in the UN is the Arab League, which has been in an active war with Israel since the inception of the Jewish state in 1948.
The Arab League hopes to pass a resolution calling for the report to be passed to the UN Security Council, which is the only UN agency that has powers of legislative enforcement.
Following the increase in the number of countries that wished to make statements during the discussion – more than 40 – the discussion is expected to continue for a long time, and it is not yet clear whether the resolution will be brought for a vote immediately after the discussion ends.
At the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel has dispatched its former ambassador to the UN, Danny Gillerman, in order to help in the public relations battle.
In a speech that she gave on Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev leveled sharp criticism at what she termed “cynical political maneuvers” by the UN Human Rights Council, which is behind the report that criticizes Israel so harshly.
“This is the same Human Rights Council which rejected any investigation regarding the constant firing of 12,000 rockets and mortars by Hamas, over eight years, on towns and villages in Israel,” she said. “The basic human rights of nearly one million Israeli citizens did not matter then. Are we now to believe that the council’s latest incarnation is honest, objective and fair?”
Riyad Mansour, The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s observer at the UN, accused Israel of “crimes according to international law and crimes against humanity,” and called for Israel “to be punished for criminal responsibility for killings in Gaza.”
David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us
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