by Oui
Sat Oct 28th, 2023 at 10:28:10 AM EST
Got its mandate for an investigation after the Israeli bombing of Gaza in 2021.
US Joe Biden Partners with Israel in Gaza Carnage | May 17, 2021 |
Happened before, during the Bush and Obama administration. Shipping arms and munitions to replenish stocks used by Israel to crush the Palestinian people in Gaza. Unconscionable ... immoral ... equates to war crimes and/or complicit to bombing civilians. The United States will live with impunity, Israeli leaders will be judged by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The White House and U.S. Congress will always stand by Israel to avoid prosecution.
Roadside posters from my last trip to Israel of Barack Obama saying "Anti-Semitic" and "Jew-Hater." ©2009 Omar Ha-Redeye
Demonizing everyone opposing Zionism and the transfer of the Palestinian people from their homestead of so many generations.
Israel Nervous About Goldstone Report | by Oui @BooMan on 30 Sep 2009 |
Israel seeks Obama backing on Gaza probe
(Haaretz) - Israel asked a number of senior members of the Obama administration to assist in curbing the international fallout from the Goldstone Commission report, which accuses Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
The Foreign Ministry decided to focus their efforts to combat the report's accusations on the United States, Russia and a few other members of the United Nations Security Council and the Human Rights Council that are involved in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Israeli message is that the Goldstone report threatens those countries because it makes the war on terror very difficult, and therefore efforts must be made to prevent it from being brought before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The New York Times just reported [cached] that recent months have seen "a far-reaching shift in how the United States views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how aggressively it might push for a peace agreement." But other news coming out of the Middle East actually suggests the opposite: that the US has shifted back into the old mold of appeasing Israel by permitting the right wing Netanyahu government to continue its colonization of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, making a two state solution impossible.
Obama hints that Two-State Solution may be Impossible | Informed Comment by Juan Cole - April 2010 |
Obama may well be right. But note the implications of no progress between Israel and the Palestinians on political settlement of their dispute:
"The two sides may say to themselves, `We are not prepared to resolve these issues no matter how much pressure the United States brings to bear.'" Obama reiterated that peace is a vital goal, but one that may be beyond reach "even if we are applying all of our political capital."
Obama's team tried to get the Palestine Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas to restart negotiations last year, but the long-suffering Abbas insisted on a freeze on the creeping Israeli colonization of the Palestinian West Bank first. That is, he insisted that Israel not be actively annexing the very territory at issue while the talks proceeded. It would sort of be like negotiating to buy a mansion from a seller who was dismantling wings of it and carting them off to his new residence while he kept jacking up the asking price on his increasingly diminished domicile.
Netanyahu finally agreed to an 8-month settlement freeze on the West Bank. But the offer was insincere. Building within existing settlements would continue, so they would get denser. And, the parts of the West Bank Israel had illegally and unilaterally annexed to its district of Jerusalem would continue to be settled. The first, flawed offer by Netanyahu was enough to bring Abbas to indirect negotiations. But then the implementation of the second bit of insincerity scotched any movement toward peace talks as the Palestinians decided that they had to retain a modicum of self-respect. That the building of 1600 new homes on Palestinian land near Jerusalem was announced just as VP Joe Biden arrived in Israel to kick off the proximity talks made it look as though Israel is not only a fickle and unreliable diplomatic partner, but beyond that, as though its government was intent on kicking Biden in the teeth and humiliating Washington.
One problem Obama faces is that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a coordinating body for the Israel lobbies, has successfully mobilized both houses of Congress against him with regard to putting further pressure on far rightwing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop building settlements. Congress decides on how much money to give Israel annually, and how many weapons to sell it. Obama cannot effectively threaten Netanyahu with a reduction in the billions of dollars a year in aid, trade privileges, loan guarantees, and military equipment sent to Israel by the US. Those goods are in the gift of Congress, and Congress typically yields to AIPAC and its colleagues.
AIPAC Lobbies Congress to Bring Hamas to Its Knees While Tying Bush's Hands | Tikun Olam - 24 Feb. 2007 |
American vision in we can control the Middle East worked out quite well ... didn't it ⁉️
Pouring in more modern weapons and munitions to be complicit in Israeli war crimes.
After the vote at the UN General Assembly it became clear the report from the Commission of Inquiry on OPT, East Jerusalem and Israel played a crucial role to convince 120 nations to approve the Arab proposal.
As Civilian Casualties Reach Record Levels in Gaza, Third Committee Underscores Need to End War, Lift Blockade of Essential Needs, Hold Parties Accountable | 24 Oct. 2023 |
Ms. PILLAY said that the eruption of violence in Israel and Palestine since 7 October is profoundly concerning, citing thousands of civilian deaths and extensive damage to civilian structures. The Commission unequivocally condemns the killing of over 1,000 Israeli citizens by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups as well as the taking of over 200 Israeli hostages, including children, she added. It also unequivocally condemns Israeli military attacks, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
The Commission calls for an immediate ceasefire and safe return of all hostages and will continue to collect and preserve evidence, in view of accountability for human rights violations, identifying individual criminal responsibility. Calling on the Israeli Government, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas de facto authority in Gaza to support the investigation and grant access as soon as possible, she urged the General Assembly to support the process.
Turning to the
(document A/78/198), the Chair recalled that, while the report was completed before this upsurge in violence, its findings are "tragically relevant", as it examines the use of force by Israel and the de facto authorities in Gaza. Israel's increasingly militarized law enforcement in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza consistently violate international humanitarian law, she said. Such actions are linked to Israel's goals of maintaining the unlawful occupation and weakening Palestinian opposition, as well as its political, economic and social cohesion. The Commission also finds that the indiscriminate firing of projectiles by armed groups in Gaza toward Israeli cities constitute war crimes.
Israel has used excessive force in disrupting protests among Palestinians asserting their right to self-determination, resulting in deaths and permanent injuries, she said. She added that large scale arrest operations to dismantle armed groups in the West Bank are treated as military operations, resulting in the application of far more permissive rules of engagement. One such result was the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May 2022. The report also addresses the human rights violations of Israeli authorities and Hamas in Gaza of withholding bodies for "bargaining chips", causing severe trauma to families of the deceased, with a particular gendered impact on Palestinian female relatives, she said. The continuing unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory has overwhelmingly affected Palestinian children, who experience human violations, some of which amount to war crimes, she said.
"Justice takes time, but it is our collective obligation to pursue it," she said, noting that the General Assembly's cooperation to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the Israeli Occupation last year is encouraging. All parties must cooperate fully with investigations, she added, stressing that, above all, the Israeli Government must end its 56-year occupation and recognize the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.
From the diaries ...
WATCH: An elderly Palestinian man is pushed away by Israeli soldiers as he attempts to stop them from seizing a caravan used as a health clinic in Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, & Israel :: Press Conference | United Nations - 25 October 2023
Press Conference by Navanethem Pillay, Chair of the Independent International Commission, and Commissioner Christopher Dominic Sidoti, on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
The Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, Navi Pillay, said that there are "clear indications that international crimes have been committed" in the current conflict.
Briefing journalists in New York today (25 Oct), Pillay added, "So accordingly in line with our mandate, we began collecting evidence of war crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and by Israeli security forces, and we issued a call for submissions later last week."
Pillay also said, "I assure you that we intend to continue pursuing the fulfilment of our mandate, including in relation to making recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility."
The Commission's Chair noted, "International law has clear obligations on every state whether they exercising self defense, or hostile warfare to protect civilians, and I fear that this is not happening. Civilians are being targeted and civilian objects, structures are being damaged, irreparably, so it's a huge concern and we are going to be looking into this, expanding on this."