The Goldstone Report: Rewarding Palestinian Terror
September 15, 2009 22:00 by ManagingTeam
BACKGROUND SUMMARY
The United Nations fact-finding mission examining Israel’s Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza has been published. Headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, the mission’s 575-page report (PDF format) found that “Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity.”
Here, we provide an overview of some of the failings the Goldstone Report, including:
-
Israel did not deliberately target the civilian population of Gaza and, in fact, made efforts to prevent civilian casualties that no other army in the world would have done.
-
Contrary to the assertions of Goldstone, Hamas did use Palestinian civilians as human shields.
-
The Goldstone Report is not objective and is, in fact tainted by bias and politicization, both from the UN Human Rights Council and members of the mission itself.
-
The report relied upon the contributions of anti-Israel non-governmental organizations and unreliable Palestinian “eyewitnesses.”
-
Israel respects human rights and has a sophisticated legal and judicial system. Hamas does not. Yet the report has created an unjust equivalence of a democratic state with a terror organization.
CLAIM: ISRAEL DELIBERATELY TARGETED PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS
THE FACTS:
-
The Goldstone Report states: “While the Israeli Government has sought to portray its operations as essentially a response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right to self defence, the Mission considers the plan to have been directed, at least in part, at a different target: the people of Gaza as a whole…deeds by Israeli forces and words of military and political leaders prior to and during the operations indicate that as a whole they were premised on a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed not at the enemy but at the ‘supporting infrastructure.’ In practice, this appears to have meant the civilian population.” -
So why did the IDF drop thousands of warning leaflets, make over 200,000 telephone warnings to Palestinian civilians, abort missile strikes to prevent civilian casualties, open a field clinic for Palestinians on the Gaza border, and transfer tons of humanitarian aid during the conflict?
CLAIM: THE REPORT FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF PALESTINIANS USING HUMAN SHIELDS
THE FACTS:
-
While Goldstone maintains that he could not find any evidence of the use of human shields by Hamas, even the terrorist organization admits it.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF AN ARMED HAMAS TERRORIST GRABBING AN INNOCENT YOUNG BOY OFF THE STREET TO USE AS A HUMAN SHIELD TO SAVE HIS OWN LIFE
CLAIM: THE GOLDSTONE REPORT IS OBJECTIVE AND UNTAINTED BY BIAS OR POLITICIZATION
THE FACTS:
-
It was clear that one out of the four members of the Goldstone Mission, Professor Christine Chinkin, had already made up her mind, having signed a letter before the conflict had even ended, clearly stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to “war crimes” and that Palestinian rocket attacks were not significant enough for Israel to exercise her right to self-defense.
-
The UN Human Rights Council includes states known for having questionable records with regards to human rights or a history of hostility towards Israel, including Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Pakistan, Bahrain, Mauritius and Qatar. The UNHRC has consistently discriminated against Israel and the mandate for the Goldstone Mission was no different. -
The mandate was not supported by many le
ading democratic members of the HRC the European Union, Japan, Canada and Switzerland all refused to back the resolution. -
The mandate (HRC Resolution S-9/1) for the fact-finding mission was “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression” — already determining that Israel had committed “violations of international human rights law ” before the investigation even began.
-
Additionally, the Resolution determined that Israel caused ” massive violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people and systematic destruction of Palestinian infrastructure” while demanding that Israel “stop the targeting of civilians and medical facilities and staff and the systematic destruction of the cultural heritage of the Palestinian people, in addition to the destruction of public and private properties.” This, too, before any investigation even took place.
-
As Melanie Phillips notes: “So this ‘objective’ inquiry had been told before it was even established that the guilty party in Gaza was Israel, designated by the UN as the ‘occupying power’; that it was guilty of ‘aggression’ and ‘violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law’; and that the Palestinians of Gaza were the victims of this Israeli aggression.”
CLAIM: THERE IS NO REASON TO DOUBT THE RELIABILITY OF “EYEWITNESSES” AND NGOs
THE FACTS:
-
Time and again, Palestinian “eyewitnesses” and non-governmental organizations have been proven to be unreliable, giving unverifiable evidence. -
Judge Goldstone has a long association with Human Rights Watch, even serving on its board until removing himself when it was pointed out that remaining with HRW would be inappropriate. Yet he cites HRW sources in the Report, including material by the Nazi memorabilia collecting Marc Garlasco, who is currently suspended by HRW pending an investigation.
-
Some of the Palestinian witnesses heard by the mission were actually Hamas operatives directly involved in terrorism. One such witness, Mohammed Fuoad Abu Askar of Jebaliyeh, was actually a senior Hamas operative who used his house to store arms and ammunition, which lead to the IDF strike against the structure.
-
The case of Khaled and Kawthar Abed Rabbo, as outlined by CAMERA, offers ample evidence of unreliable witnesses. While the Goldstone committee “found Khalid and Kawthar Abd Rabbo to be credible and reliable witnesses [and] has no reason to doubt the veracity of the main elements of their testimony,” Khaled Abd Rabbo and his relatives have given more than a dozen different versions of what happened to them on Jan. 7, 2009.
-
In addition, as evidenced in the above case, Goldstone failed to take into account the loyalties of different Palestinian factions and the incentive for Fatah or Hamas members to blame Israeli soldiers for killings that were actually part of intra-Palestinian violence.
CLAIM: ISRAEL IS INCAPABLE OF HOLDING ITSELF TO ACCOUNT WITHIN A PROPER LEGAL FRAMEWORK
THE FACTS:
-
Goldstone refers to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists as “armed groups” while the IDF stands accused of targeting Gaza’s civilian population. The report has created an unjust equivalence of a democratic state with a terror organization.
-
In addition, Goldstone calls for both Israelis and Palestinians to investigate alleged crimes. This despite the fact that Israel’s legal and judicial apparatus is fully equipped and motivated to address alleged violations of national or international law by its commanders and soldiers. Such allegations are reviewed through a multi-tiered system of independent and impartial proceedings before Israeli investigative, administrative and judicial authorities, including Israel’s highest judicial instance, the Israeli Supreme Court.
-
How can Goldstone imply that Hamas or the Palestinian Authority operates a legal system that comes close to anything resembling that of a western democracy?
Expect to see more of the Goldstone Report in the media over the coming days and weeks. This UN report based on the work of investigators who publicized their opinions before the investigation began and reliant on unreliable and tainted sources, delivered exactly what we expected: a drawn out condemnation of Israel’s efforts to defend its citizens against Hamas’s rockets.
In reality, it is the UN Human Rights Council that should be investigated for its complete failure to take action to protect the human rights of Israel’s citizens.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Read more about the Goldstone Report at this dedicated site – Understanding The Goldstone Report – as well as the resources below:
REY
2:05 am
Feb 06, 2011
PROPAGANDA ? OR “HONEST REPORTING” BY A BIAS PRO-ISRAELI LOBBY FOR DAMAGE CONTROL
FACTS : AIPAC is in violation of the FOREIGN AGENT REGISTRATION ACT, Its Founder Si Kenen registered with the US department of Justice as an employee of the American Zionist committee for Public Affair.
The State of Israel gets $15 Million per DAY of US aid, SEVEN TIMES as much as ALL Africa. SIX TIMES as much as the US spent on famine relief for the ENTIRE PLANET . WHICH IS IN VIOLATION OF THE SYMINGTON amendment to the 1961 Foreign appropriations bill (see Wikipedia) :
Israel has, in violation of International laws, around 200 Nuclear weapons and REFUSED (unlike IRAN) to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty (NTP) : THE US IS BANNED FROM SENDING ANY AID TO ANY NATION WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS WHO HAS NOT SIGN the NTP treaty.
The UN has declared annexation of occupied Jerusalem INVALID (general assembly Resolution 2253 9/67)
Israel is in violation of Human right section 502 (B) 116 (a) Foreign Assistance Act.
The “right” of a State to exist does not include create illegal Settlements on confiscated territory. Most of southern Texas use to be part of Mexico now if Mexicans decided to create “Mexican Only” Settlements in Texas on “confiscated” Texan territory pushing away the “locals” with the help of an Army and Bulldozers…What would happen ? Why expecting different from the Palestinians who have NO army NO Air force NO Illegal NUKES, no Phosphorous Bombs or Depleted uranium bullet provided by the US…
Quote from Albert Einstein: “I should much rather see REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH ARABS ON THE BASIS OF LIVING TOGETHER IN PEACE than the creation of a JEWISH STATE. Apart from practical considerations, my awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish State, with borders, an army and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest.I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain”…(you Bet)
Before the 20th Century most Jews in Palestine belonged to old Yishuv,or community, that had settled more for religious than political reasons. There was little or any conflict between them and the Arab population Tensions began ONLY when the Zionists began to claim that Palestine was the “rightful” possession of the “Jewish People”
TO THE EXCLUSION OF ITS MOSLEM AND CHRISTIAN INHABITANTS (Sami Hadawi “Bitter Harvest) the Zionist concept of a “Jewish Only” state was created by Theodore Herzl around 1886 who stated “We shall try to spirit the penniless (Arab) population across the border by procuring employment for it in transit countries while denying it employment in our own country.BOTH THE PROCESS OF EXPROPRIATION AND REMOVAL MUST BE CARRIED OUT DISCREETLY AND CIRCUMSPECTLY.
The indigenous Jews of Palestine also reacted negatively to Zionism They did not see a need for a Jewish State in Palestine and did not want to exacerbate relations with the Arabs (John Quigley “Palestine & Israel :A challenge to Justice)
See the book (available for free on the internet : “The thirteenth Tribe the Khazar Empire and its Heritage” by Arthur Koestler
which demonstrates that Ashkenazi Jews (representing the vast majority of Settlers and those in control of all policies in Israel and also American Jews) are descendants of Eastern Europeans from Khazaria who CONVERTED to Judaism in AD 700 and have no connection with the 12 Hebrew Tribes or Israelites from Palestine .Their ancestors WERE NEVER IN PALESTINE but in Poland Russia Germany were they moved after the Khazar empire (East Europe north of Caspian and Black sea) was destroyed by Gengis Khan ,
So the “return to the promise Land” which was for SOME expelled Hebrew tribes” (mostly to North Africa and Spain) has very little connection with Ashkenazis who were NEVER there at the first place so Zionism use Judaism (the Religion) for Political and Territorial gain.
Having an uncle who was sent to Dachau (he survived and died in 1968) I understand the suffering of the European (Ashkenazi) Jewish community during WW2 , how ever Palestinians have nothing to do with it (including the rest of the Muslim countries)
There is NO LONGER any Persecution in Europe only some justified criticism on the State of Israel policies toward Palestinian population which has NOTHING to do with Anti- Semitism so often used by Zionist Neo Cons in addition of the “Holocaust card” to Discredit ANY critics and to bring the MAJORITY of the public opinion on their side.but the World is not BLIND: TRUTH DOES NOT CHANGE BECAUSE IT IS, OR IT IS NOT BELIEVED BY THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE.
There was NO major Islamic Terrorists organizations before the Der Yassin Massacre,
for the entire day of April 9 1948 (Wikipedia, Google) IRGUN and LEHI soldiers (Zionist Army) carried out the slaughter of an entire Palestinian village lining unarmed men women and children against the walls and shot them all…There are always consequences to our actions
Peace
Because War is a Racket.
Agree or Disagree:
2 
4
Dennisdrl1
9:51 pm
Apr 03, 2011
Rey has a rather skewed view of history. He ignores the original partition plan of 1948 in which three small Jewish areas were to be intertwined economically with three small Arab areas. Jerusalem was to be internationalized. The Jews of Palestine agreed; the Arabs did not and went to war and lost. He doesn’t address the question as to why a Palestinian State was not created between 1948-1967 when Egypt illegally controlled Gaza and the Jordanians controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem from which Jews were barred entry. He also conveniently ignores the 875,000 Jews who were forced to flee Muslim lands after 1948 and were assimilated into Israel or into other nations. The Arab dictators used the Palestinian Arabs for their own political purposes. It is much easier to blame Israel for the squalor of the refugee camps than the corrupt Arab regimes that controlled these territories. Finally, if he wants to get technical, Christians were living in Egypt prior to the invasion of Muslims from the East. Does this mean that all Muslims need to leave those lands in which the inhabitants either voluntarily or were forced to convert to Islam? The civil rights of Arabs are protected to a much greater degree than anywhere else in the Middle East. Just ask the citizens of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc. His statement that there is no “persecution” of Jews in Europe is rather ludicrous considering the Continental rise of anti-Semitism. I suggest that he read more reliable sources for his information.
Agree or Disagree:
2 
1
Goldstone: If I Had Known Then What I Know Now… | Newslog International
6:46 am
Apr 04, 2011
[...] Honestreporting first reported on the fallacies and false accusations in the Goldstone Report back in September of 2009 using [...]
Agree or Disagree:
3 
0
Gaza Under Fire: Israel air assault claims civilian lives
8:02 pm
Dec 18, 2011
[...] Report Default Parallels Plesk Panel Page (spam site, got deleted. link is still in front page) The Goldstone Report: Rewarding Palestinian Terror – honest reporting TheGoldstoneReport.com John Bolton: Israel, the U.S. and the Goldstone Report – WSJ.com Behind The [...]
Agree or Disagree:
0 
0