Double set of war crimes
So now an authoritative and independent report has spelled out at great length that both the Palestinians and the Israelis were guilty of war crimes last December and January. The 574-page report from esteemed judge Richard Goldstone is based on 188 interviews, more than 10,000 pages of documentation and 1,200 photographs and other material.
Both sides should be condemned for the relevant actions, both sides should bring those responsible to justice, and if they do not then matters should be referred to the International Criminal Court.
Further information here.
September 16th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
The State of Israel and most Israelis would completely disagree with your evaluation of the report, which you have not read. (Nor have I.)
See, for example, this report on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8259025.stm or this from an independent, non-Jewish critic: http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/bbc-exposes-itself-to-ridicule-in-preposterous-analysis-of-latest-un-report-on-israel-and-gaza/
I’m not sure I’d rush to hail this report as authoritative or independent. Or if I was planning to do so, I’d make sure I read it first.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Several NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have published their own reports on the Gaza war, levelling serious accusations against both Israel and Hamas.
The UN report provides further detailed evidence of the war crimes committed by both sides and denied by both sides. If Israel was so sure of its case, it should have co-operated with the inquiry but it did not.
In fact, some in Israel have supported the report’s call for further investigation. A group of nine Israeli human rights organizations said in a joint statement that they had recently written to Israel’s attorney general to demand that he establish an independent body to investigate the military’s activities in Gaza, but that he rejected their request.
Boaz Okon, a legal affairs commentator in the newspaper “Yediot Aharonot”, has suggested that it might be advisable for Israel to form an independent commission of inquiry into the army’s actions during the Gaza war.
Meanwhile Israel’s constant denial of wrong-doing in the face of more and more evidence deeply saddens those of us who support its right to exist and to be free of terrorist attacks.