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Last update - 05:01 02/10/2009
Source: Palestinians drop endorsement of Goldstone report
By Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgavaya, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Gaza Strip 

Click here for more on the Goldstone commission report on the Gaza conflict

The Palestinian Authority on Thursday decided to drop its draft resolution condemning Israel's conduct during the Gaza Strip offensive, in effect deferring its adoption of the Goldstone's Commission report accusing both sides of war crimes.

The PA had originally planned to present the draft to the Human Rights Council for a vote in Geneva on Friday. The decision not to pursue the resolution means that any similar effort will have to wait until at least March, a political source in Jerusalem said.
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The source added that the decision appears to be based on pressure from the Obama administration, exerted by way of U.S. representatives in Geneva, as well as through contacts between Washington and Ramallah.

The Obama administration has told the Palestinians that a renewal of the peace process must come before any diplomatic initiatives based on the Goldstone report, or any other initiatives that could stifle efforts to renew Israel-PA negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated in recent days that efforts to use the Goldstone report to advance anti-Israel measures in the Human Rights Council or the International Tribunal in The Hague will deal a death blow to the peace process.

Goldstone: Gaza report won't affect peace process

Goldstone said on Thursday that Netanyahu was wrong to claim that pursuing both Israel and Hamas for war crimes would end the Middle East peace process.

"I think [Netanyahu] got wrong what our report is all about," Goldstone said. "He talked about Israel's right to self-defense. That is not what the report was about."

Goldstone said earlier Thursday that he was naive to have believed that Israel might have cooperated with his investigation.

"I believed that Israel would cooperate - it turned to be a naïve expectation, and the problem that we had obviously is to do as fair and complete a job as we could without Israel's participation," he said.

"We couldn't go to Gaza through Israel, but had to make a long and tedious journey through Egypt four times. And it was a pity, as well as the constant referral to the original mandate, which became irrelevant," he added.

"It excluded justification of the military operation and the Hamas shelling," he said. "We looked only at the military operation on both sides in order to determine whether there were violation of the international law on both sides."

Goldstone, a South African judge, spoke to reporters in Washington two days after officially submitting his report to the UN Human Rights Council.

The report accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes during their three-week conflict in Gaza in January and recommends that both be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution unless they carry out in-house investigations that the UN deems adequate within six months. The council is slated to vote on the matter tomorrow.

Goldstone told reporters that the American reaction to the report both "pleased and disappointed" him, again rejecting claims that his investigation was one-sided.

"I was pleased that our main recommendation - that there should be independent investigation - was accepted. And disappointed by the claims that the report was labeled not even-handed - no details were given. Both sides failed to make crucial distinction between the civilian population and combatants," he said.

The investigator also blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism to that effect, saying"

"I think Netanyahu got wrong what our fact-finding mission was about. It wasn't part of our mandate to check justification for the military actions - we took that as a given."

"I think if the report achieves one good thing, it is to cause this debate in Israel," he added. "It would be a healthy thing."


Lieberman asks counterparts to blast Gaza report

Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman discussed the matter to great extent over recent days, according to a political source in Jerusalem.

On Thursday, Lieberman met with the foreign ministers of 15 different countries, and asked them to support efforts to counter the Goldstone report.

In a conversation with foreign ministers from Brazil, Russia, and the European Union among others, Lieberman warned that the report is a dangerous development that could threaten the ability of democracies to defend themselves.

"This is only the first step," Lieberman said, adding, "the next step will be similar efforts against NATO forces in Afghanistan and Russian forces in Chechnya."

The source said that the PA's decision to pull the proposal shows that they understand the serious consequences of such actions.

"This proves that we were right not to cooperate, and also proves that the Goldstone report was completely political and through diplomatic efforts we were able to scuttle it."

"The clear Israeli message sent to all corners has been that it will be impossible to continue the peace process and extreme attacks on Israel at the same time."

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      1.   Has Goldstone ever heard of the term "Self Defense"? 22:28  |  Murray of Montreal 01/10/09
      2.   first of all goldstone was naive to think that hamas would assist 22:36  |  scallywag 01/10/09
      3.   Which part of the UN HRC`s Kangeroo Court didn`t he get? 22:45  |  Jacob Blues 01/10/09
      4.   War is a war crime 22:45  |  Andy 01/10/09
      5.   Abbas and his PA know no shame 22:48  |  Big 01/10/09
      6.   abbas will roll over and play dead for his zio-masters 01:35  |  digusted 02/10/09
      7.   Big (#5) Agree, and like to add that this corrupt millionaire ... 01:35  |  Pal 02/10/09
      8.   TALKING ABOUT SHOOTING YOURSELF... 01:42  |  EL 02/10/09
      9.   Goldstone 02:22  |  Edifice 02/10/09
      10.   #6 Perhaps read more widely on this, digusted 02:56  |  Johnboy 02/10/09
      11.   quite interesting 03:07  |  vik 02/10/09
      12.   B.S 03:08  |  Hirz 02/10/09
      13.   Murray, Gaza is still occupied, has been since `67 by Israel... 03:11  |  BBSNews 02/10/09
      14.   Palestinians drop thier endorsement 03:12  |  Al 02/10/09
      15.   yes Pal there wasn`t much for fatah in Tunis 03:13  |  but company 02/10/09
      16.   No spine 04:06  |  Bazmann 02/10/09
      17.   Abbas is a sell-out 04:10  |  Fadi 02/10/09
      18.   sounds like lieberman is bragging about blackmailing the pa 04:37  |  eric 02/10/09
      19.   the PA is pathetic...PATHETIC. 04:41  |  John 02/10/09
      20.   Has Murray of Montreal heard of "reading" 08:46  |  Kilminster 02/10/09
      21.   vik (#11): I would advise you first to take a quick look at ... 08:48  |  Pal 02/10/09
      22.   @vik can someone tell me what it takes for you to read? 08:49  |  Kilminster 02/10/09
      23.   And the winner is..........HAMAS 08:54  |  Joe 02/10/09
      24.   There is no substitute for truth... 09:14  |  Dutch 02/10/09
      25.   Who represents the Palestinians? 09:15  |  American Patriot 02/10/09
      26.   The real clear message... 09:17  |  Dutch 02/10/09
      27.   Important to stress that the motives of Obama... 09:18  |  Esther 02/10/09
      28.   When will Obama finally understand? 09:18  |  David 02/10/09
      29.   Vik 11. - Misquotes the report 09:19  |  American Patriot 02/10/09
      30.   RE: Has Golddstone ever heard of the term "Self Defense"? 09:31  |  Jirka 02/10/09
      31.   well done israel 09:33  |  idiot hypocrit UN 02/10/09
      32.   Murray No 1 09:46  |  Donatus 02/10/09
      33.   ask Hamas for endorsement 09:54  |  Donatus 02/10/09
      34.   Fatah doesn`t seem to have changed a bit...... 10:07  |  Swiss (Dino) 02/10/09
      35.   It is all because Goldie wrote 10:09  |  Gil 02/10/09
      36.   Abbas loves the money and power 12:13  |  petra 02/10/09
      37.   :: Jacob Blues - self-flagellation? 13:07  |  Matty Groves 02/10/09
      38.   shame on you Abbas 14:57  |  hus 02/10/09
      39.   From behind the 02:53  |  Wall pt 2. 03/10/09
      40.   I and others write and you rarely publish 03:02  |  Alan 03/10/09
      41.   US slaves were at peace with their owners, what`s wrong with Pals 07:31  |  H U CS 03/10/09
      42.   war crimes by hamas 08:56  |  MB 04/10/09
      43.   It excluded justification of the military operation and the Hamas 23:28  |  shelling 04/10/09
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