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.