UNSC to discuss Goldstone Report

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday that the Security Council would begin to discuss the Goldstone Commission's report at the earliest opportunity. Ban's announcement came after the UN General Assembly approved on Thursday an Arab-backed resolution endorsing the Goldstone Report, paving the way for the matter to be sent to the Security Council.

Following a two-day debate, 114 countries voted for the resolution and 18 voted against, including Israel, the US, Germany, Holland, Canada, Australia and several eastern European nations. Another 44 abstained, including most EU countries, who sought unsuccessfully to soften the resolution's language prior to the vote.

The non-binding resolution on the Goldstone report, which alleges war crimes by Israel and Hamas during the IDF's offensive in Gaza last winter, aims to open doors toward prosecution in the international courts.

The UN secretary-general will be required in three months' time to present to the General Assembly the Security Council's decision concerning the report.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, called the resolution "an important night in the history of the General Assembly and the history of fighting against impunity and seeking accountability."

The nonbinding resolution on the Goldstone document, which alleges war crimes by Israel and Hamas during the IDF's offensive in Gaza last winter, aims to open doors toward prosecution in the international courts. But as the debate dragged into its second day on Thursday, European nations threatened to abstain from a vote just as others feverishly tried to negotiate softer terms. Of particular concern was language fully endorsing the report and requiring Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take up the issue within three months or send the matter to the Security Council.

Absent from the debate was US Ambassador Susan Rice, whose deputies were present but were not among some 50 scheduled speakers.
"Our position on the Goldstone Report is well-known," a US official said. "The US is prepared to speak when and if there is an occasion to advance the debate."

The official said representatives of the US mission attended Wednesday and Thursday's debate. "It's not unusual for ambassadors to attend portions of a debate that lasts several hours or in this case, two days." But officials privately said the blustery debate was a distraction from another goal: urging Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks. US officials were expected to release a statement following the vote, explaining their position.

On Thursday, European countries were still trying to soften the text of the draft resolution. Most European nations expressed discontent with parts of the resolution, including language endorsing the report and referring the matter to the Security Council. "There's been progress, but there's also been backpedaling," a European diplomat said. European countries, concerned with "grave accusations," want accountability and have demanded that accusations be addressed by both sides.

The European Union took a similarly moderate approach in the debate.
"The EU takes note of the recommendations of the mission and emphasizes the obligations of all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law," said Swedish Ambassador to the UN Anders Liden, speaking on behalf of the 27 EU countries on Wednesday. "In this regard the EU believes that appropriate follow-up will be necessary."

The EU comments were welcomed by Israeli officials, who delivered a blistering assault on the Goldstone mandate and report in their speech on Wednesday. Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, boycotted the vote, sending Israeli Deputy Representative Danny Carmon in her place.
"Rather than confronting terrorism, the General Assembly chose again to detach itself from reality," said Shalev. "Today's debate is anything but genuine and candid.

"Rather than discuss how to better stop terrorist groups who deliberately target civilians, this body launches yet another campaign against the victims of terrorism, the people of Israel," she said.

Carmon said the resolution "endorses and legitimizes a deeply flawed, one-sided and prejudiced report." He added the General Assembly ignores facts on the ground related to Israel's security, and cited the recent interception of an arms shipment from Iran to Hizbullah operatives.

Indeed, prior to Thursday's vote, Israel filed a letter of complaint Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, urging him to press the Security Council to take action against Iran. The discovery of 36 containers weapons on the cargo vessel Francop violates several UN resolutions, namely 1747, 1701 and 1373, Shalev charged in the letter. "The aforementioned shipment from Iran to Syria, or to any other country or entity, in particular to any terrorist entity, constitutes a severe violation of this and other resolutions," she wrote. Listing other violations, she implicated Iran's national shipping company, saying it has "repeatedly" been "found to be involved in transporting weapons and other banned items in violation of UN Security Council resolutions."

Following the Goldstone vote, which US Ambassador Susan Rice did not attend, the US mission circulated an "explanation of vote" by Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff, who voted instead. "As the United States made clear in Geneva, we believe that the Goldstone Report is deeply flawed," he said, citing an unbalanced focus on Israel, sweeping legal conclusions and overreaching recommendations, and a failure to deal adequately assign responsibility to Hamas for basing its operations in civilian-populated areas.

He stressed that the matter should be handled in Geneva alone, saying discussion in the Security Council would be "unconstructive." Stating that the US "strongly supports accountability" for human rights and humanitarian law violations, he said the best way to end human suffering is to bring comprehensive peace to the region, including a two-state solution. "As we urge the parties to restart permanent status negotiations leading to the creation of a Palestinian state, we should all be seeking to advance the cause of peace - and doing nothing to hinder it," he said.

The UN resolution was passed just two days after the US House of Representatives passed a resolution calling the Goldstone report "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy."

Jewish groups - from B'nai Brith to the American Jewish Committee to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations - criticized the vote. "In the event that this matter is referred to the UN Security Council," said AJC Executive Director David Harris, "we urge member states to dismiss the recommendations of the Goldstone Commission, which was grossly prejudiced against Israel from its inception."

In related news, the Anti-Defamation League said the Goldstone report has become "a cause célèbre in the Arab press," which have published anti-Israel cartoons in response to the report. Among the examples cited by the ADL is a cartoon published in Alraya in Qatar on October 17 that portrays a Jew putting the Goldstone report into a shredder?