Official: US will not support action on Goldstone report at UNSC

Published today (updated) 08/10/2009 12:22

Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies – Washington will not support any potential action by the UN Security Council on the Goldstone report on war crimes in Gaza, Former US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff has declared.

Wolff said the US believes that the appropriate platform to discuss the report is the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The announcement came after a closed-door meeting Wednesday, where the UN Security Council decided to push up their next meeting from 20 to 14 October so a discussion on the Goldstone report can be held, UN officials said.

The Wednesday session was called to order by Libya, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN General Assembly this year. The country called the meeting in response to growing concern over a US-backed move by the Palestinian Authority to postpone a resolution that could have seen the UN Human Rights Council adopt the Goldstone report, which calls for the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel's Operation Cast Lead last winter.

The 14 October meeting will focus on the report. President Mahmoud Abbas dispatched his Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki to New York for the talks. He is set to arrive Thursday.

Those who wish to see its findings adopted are calling for the Security Council do resolve to take on the report and ensure that the recommendations of official, likely International Criminal Court, investigations over the allegations be seen through.

While Hamas initially condemned the report, outrage in Gaza over the Palestinian Authority's decision to put it aside for a rumored Israeli agreement on settlements, seems to have changed the tune of the party.

Abbas, though accused to quashing earlier attempts to see the report passed at the Human Rights Council said he "appreciate[s] the initiative of the Libyan Arab Republic and consider[s] it a step to support the Palestinian people and their rights of justice.”

US: Prospect of peace talks trumps Goldstone report

Published today (updated) 08/10/2009 12:34

 Bethlehem - Ma’an -

US State Department spokesperson on the Middle East Ian Kelly refused to comment Wednesday on whether or not the US would use their veto in the Security Council over the issue of the Goldstone report.

“We recognize that the allegations in the [Goldstone] report need to be investigated thoroughly, and we, of course, were very concerned about the number of civilians who were killed in this operation. But again, we need to stay focused on this long-term goal of addressing the underlying causes for the whole conflict,” Kelly told reporters at the State Department following the UN Security Council decision to bump up a meeting on the Middle East to 14 October.

An emergency session of the UNSC was held Wednesday to discuss the issue of addressing the Goldstone report, but delegates decided a second emergency session dedicated to the report was unnecessary, but compromised and moved the special session on the Middle East, originally scheduled for 20 October, up by six days.

While Libya is adamant that the report be the central point of discussion, Kelly said he did not think UNSC members will be “discussing the overall issue, though, which is the Goldstone report.”

Explaining US motives for postponing discussion, Kelly said “we are at a sensitive time in trying to re-launch these negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Senator Mitchell arrived this morning to resume these talks with the Israelis and Palestinians, and we think that we should all stay focused on that objective of addressing the underlying causes of the tragic events that are covered in the Goldstone report, which is the lack of a comprehensive peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians and a solution to this longstanding conflict, which we believe, and which both sides also believe – they share the same goal of having two states living side by side in peace and security.

“What we wanted to do was defer discussion of it so it wouldn't become an impediment to the talks going on which are designed to develop the resumption of talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians…we are focused on is a long-term objective of getting to a point where we can talk about a real solution to the problems that caused these terrible events in Gaza,” he said.

De facto gov't to file lawsuits on behalf Gaza war dead

Published yesterday (updated) 08/10/2009 09:31

 Gaza – Ma’an -

The de facto Palestinian Ministry of the Interior in Gaza has begun to file international suits against Israeli leaders on behalf of the Gaza war dead, spokesperson for the ministry said Wednesday.

Ihab Al-Ghusein said the ministry would file motions with every international human rights body, and the first files would focus on the deaths of more than 250 policemen and those working for the security departments in Gaza. Under international law, police and those whose job it is to maintain civilian safety are categorized as non-combatants. Israel directly targeted the graduation ceremony of a new class of police officers in Gaza City on 20 December, killing more than 250.

While Palestinian counts of civilian dead include the police officers slain at their graduation ceremony, the recently released report from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem put police officers in a third category, deferring the debate over whether the police were combatants. Israeli military counts classify police as terrorists.

Al-Ghusein said the legal work came after demands were presented by national and Islamic figures as well as the families of some of the victims of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The move comes as increasing outrage is expressed by Palestinians over the Palestinian Authority move to delay a resolution over adopting the findings of the Goldstone commission report on the Israeli war on Gaza, which included recommendations to bring Israeli officials in front of the International Criminal Court.