Israel girds for diplomatic war over 'biased' UN Gaza report

Without Prejudice" I agree with Ed-A proportionate Response would have been FAIRER/Enough and all the questionable atrocities of the ground War would not have happened?If Palestinians are Wrong They are and If Israel is wrong She is?Rationalising we are completely at no fault is not right? I am sure -no order was given to Kill indiscriminately but out of Fear etc "WICKED " things happened??In Future -I hope we will never resort to WAR/killing as the only means of reconciliation.?In this day and age we have no excuse to Fight a War To.......We must CHOOSE to bring about Peace in a More non Violent Way?What was the urgency to fight this war?Israel has waited long to be...............Sooooooooooooo.I hope This UNNEEDED/Questionable war was worth it?

The Goldstone report never even admits that Hamas is a terrorist organization. The Goldstone?s report is full of statements of ?fact? that defy belief and come without any evidentiary source. The report denies, contrary to numerous contemporary reports in media outlets, without citing any of the evidence, that Hamas fighters dressed in civilian dress, hid in hospital facilities and used ambulances to transport combatants and other military purposes. Last but not least : the Goldstone report never even admits that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Few Israelis or fair-minded individuals will find this mission, its report or its recommendations as having providing accountability or restoring the morality of the United Nations. More at : http://xrl.us/bfkwz2

Don't you all have access to Livestation even if TV broadcast didn't show it all? Anyone who saw live footage during those weeks and watched interviews of people recounting events (like making a man and his son bleed to death while an ambulance finally arrives but isn't allowed to go the last few yards, didn't need a UN report to judge the 'operation'.

My reason for asking; it never ceases to amaze me to hear Zionists living comfortably in another country while claiming stolen land in Palestine as their own.

Well, lets bypass the spin and get to facts--did people connected with the IDF destroy a chicken farm and kill all 31 000 chickens. Moving from animals to people, did IDF people kill people moving under a white flag and if so were there any reasons why these people could have been perceived as threats. If the politicians refuse to investigate these, maybe it is necessary to have the ICC come in.

If one follows your 'logic', those squatting in the west bank with their families are legitimate targets, are they not? What about the fact that most Israeli's belong to the IDF/IAF. Must one distinguish between when they are on duty or off? If you squat or move into a war zone, what would a reasonable person expect the situation to be? Ah, alas, seems as though most right wing Israelis are not reasonable. Besides, you are in Canada. Canadians didn't lose a shekel. Israel is an apartheid hyena like state. Period. Tea?

So NetanYahoo! will call Obama and tell him, yes, I know I've been spitting in your face with the colonies, but you gotta help me on this one. I promise I won't start more than a few thousand new colonies if you do.

Israel always think everyone against them well maybe Iran can say we don't have to listen UN also.Israel theatens Iran as much as Iran threatens Israel.Maybe the UN is anti-semitic and anti-aryan at the same time

Sharonelle, perhaps a little history and less bumper sticker slogans would help you understand the real situation better. Even after 2/3 of the Mandate of Palestine was illegally severed in 1923, barred to Jews,and made into "Jordan",the Palestinians have had the option of statehood in part of the remaining third of the Mandate since 1937. Each time statehood is offered,the Palestinians decide that they prefer to attack Jews instead. As to Palestinians "driven from their land" in '48,the vast majority of Palestinans left Israel without ever having seen an Israeli soldier because they both followed the dictates of the Arab High Command to do so, and also, because they feared that if the Jews won, that the Jews would do to the Arabs exactly what the Arab leaders had been promising to do to the Jews (and did perpetrate in many places like Gush Etzion where all the Jews were slaughtered)! Even Mr. Abbas recently confessed that his family left Tsvat without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

all these U.N agencies are 1 sided - in the pockets of the arab nations

What else is new? Israel HAS committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for too long. It's about time the world takes on this terrorist state and deals with it accordingly.

Centuries? So, someone who moved into what is now Israel in 1946 has lived there for centuries? Someone who moved there in the late 19th century has been there for centuries? As for the idea of "Greater Israel", go ahead and laugh. I don't mind. We'll see who has the last laugh, though.

Does all that make Israel actions right?

The Palestinians who have been forceably removed from the land on which they have lived for centuries have a right to self-determination. They have a right to have their own state, just as Israelis have the right to have their own state. I think you are referring to the ridiculous notion of "Greater Israel" which is the concept that the state of Israel should encompass all the territory of the ancient state of Israel. But, the fact is that any other people returning to where they lived 2000 years previously with their "message from God" contained in their holy book says "they own the land" would be laughed outta town in less than 30 seconds. And, so should the idea of "Greater Israel".

Did you know that since the ceasefire that started on June 17th until Saturday that ZERO Israelis were killed by Hamas rockets? Did you know that Israel violated the ceasefire nearly 50 times during the 6 months killing 10s of Palestinians? Did you know that Israel kept a tight blockade on Gaza cutting fuel, food, medicine and other supplies, even though it was one of the terms of the ceasefire to completely lift the blockade? Did you know that U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights formally accused Israel of Crimes Against Humanity due to it's siege of Gaza? Did you know that since 2005 Israel has killed or injured 50 Palestinian children for every Israeli child killed or injured?

"Yes, NO Palestinian State - EVER!!!! The "expelled Palestinians" are more than welcome to return - to Jordan." I'm curious Gavriela. What gives you the right, safe thousands of miles away in multi-cultural America to exile the Palestinians from their homeland forever to the much less fertile deserts of Jordan. Presumably you support the right of Jews to return to the Holy Land after 2,000 years. Why can't the Palestinians go back there after 60? And say that it's because Pals lost a war. If you remember, Jews were exiled in the first place after losing two wars against the Romans.

The bias is in Israel always rationalizing their actions as being justified. They kill, maim, destroy homes, take Palestinian land, chop up Palestine into small pieces, arbitrarily arrest Palestinians without charges, restrict travel and interfere with commerce. Israel has lost its credibility.

There already is one state with equal rights for all. It needs only one language, Hebrew. The "expelled Palestinians" are more than welcome to return - to Jordan. The name of the state is fine as it is: Israel.

The same thing, they were innocent of any and all charges and were actually a bunch of nice guy, once you got to know them. Don't worry Israel, your bed partner, the USA, will make sure it nevergets out alive from the UN Security Council.

I think no one has the right to judge the Israeli's if he does not live in this country, a country fighting for freedom since 60 years, this country gave home to 7 Million refugees from all over the world, gave these people a home a place to work and survive, they have build homes schools and hospitals on sand in a country where it does not rain for 9 months a year,a real desert little hole and all the world is only hammering on these poor people, why don't you try and climb some other trees, for instance a Ghaddafi or a Chavez tree We all know that the antisemites do not die out but there is a true saying, "everyone who starts with the Jews ends very rapidly in Hell" This is a curse that might catch you too.

Israel shouldn't have attacked a Hospital when underneath it were Hamas Militants, rather than stating that Hamas Militants shouldn't be under the hospital. I think you are mixing things up, in the context of combat, if Hamas, takes a position inside of a civilian area, it has now militarized that area, that area is no longer a civilian area, the Militants whom those civilians elected are liable why would it be the other way around? Why should the IDF take the risk that Hamas is unwilling to take? Why should IDF soldiers risk their lives to save the lives of those who are not their constituents, who do not pay taxes to their state and are not citizens of their state. Shouldn't this responsibility lie with the military or terrorist group of that area/state? I fail to see why the IDF must offer a greater standard of care for Gazans than Hamas. It would conversely state that Hamas must offer a greater standard of Care for israelis than the IDF which is clearly false.

It's way past time for the Israeli government and military to take responsibility for the many abuses they have heaped upon Palestinian civilians.

Here in the UK, David, we also get news of abuse in Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma etc etc. I agree with you fully that these abuses should also be investigated and condemned in the strongest terms. Why, however, should this mean that we don't also investigate Israel as well? Are such investigations mutually exclusive? Or is it a case that 'it's ok for Israel, since the others are worse'? - surely one of the more puerile defences around.

This is classic rejectionist rubbish on the part of the Israelis. There is nothing one-sided about this report, it is balanced and criticises both the IDF and Hamas. Goldstone is not biased either, and accusations that he is tarnished by the Council are rubbish. Firstly, he is Jewish, and secondly, he had total independence from the Council in conducting this investigation. Had Israel wanted a genuine enquiry, it should have participated in the first place, but instead it did not, for fear it would have to face the reality of institutional abuse. The fact that Afghanistan and Iraq should categorically also be investigated does not invalidate this investigation.

Save your time Israel.Diplomatic war with the UN is a waist of time for two reasons.You cannot win,they will use any tric in the book.Legal and illegal,and even if you win they are all ready preparing the next story.Haven't you noticed the"wave"?since Gaza they are spreading to Swine-flu,organ harvesting,and piracy.Like in the"good old days".The second reason is who care what they have or will say?how many resolitions?condemnations?so what.Neither the Arabs or the Chinese Russian,and Iranian gives a damn about the UN,nor should we.United-Nothing

This is soooo typical! The article is about Israel and its war crimes against the civilians in Gaza yet the likes of David Israel will try and deflect attention away from this by saying 'oh but look over there at *someone else* committing war crimes'. Its amazing how pro-Israel supporters can point out war crimes happening all over the world but never the war crimes committed in Palestine by Israelis. I guess they are to busy deflecting attention elsewhere...

from FDR down would have been prosecuted for crimes against humanity in their no-holes-barred bombing/fire-bombing/atomic bombing of infrastructure/civilians. General Curtiss Lemay, General of the Pacific Air campaign admitted as much in post WWII interviews.

It is not a question of the right of Israel to defend itself...But how and what kind of armarsenal has been used...The Cluster bombs (though in Lebanon), phosphorus, attacking places where it is supposed(!) to be the terrorists, still knowing that there are also civilians like schools,hospitals...

War is ugly and atrocities are committed many times unintentionally. Use this report, which was not written with prejudiced against Israel. Goldstone, a Jew, even tried to soften it. Maybe in the next war, the IDF will be more aware of their actions and therefore not lose the high ground of defending their country.

When the world community decided to form the Hague and the United Nations,their intentions were admirable. Unfortunately, we Americans made a mistake thinking that mankind can make any collective effort without getting their own selfish interests to work for them. There is a strong sentiment growing against these International organizations here in the USA. Once we get our political house in order, these corrupt entities are going to be our next challenge.

israel is always the one that gets blamed for war just because it defend itself.

So, UN, is it a crime for Israel to defend itself? You do nothing while Hezbollah repeatedly violates Resolution 1701(passed to oppose Israel, of course). No accusations of war crimes to the ones who fired Qassams at innocent school children(the pals will explain it away by saying they were going to grow up to be IDF soldiers anyway)? Were are your demands to free Gilad Shalit(he is a hostage, not a POW)? UN is supposed to stand for 'United Nations', but it could very well be 'Undercover Nationalsozialismus'.

i wouldn't worry about it. the Lord is with us

Always in defensive mode.Always battening up the hatches.Always circling the wagons. Always sounding the call to arms. Because they are always sounding the battle cry.Always on the offensive.Always going to hills trying to grab startegic hills,(not theirs--one should add). Israel never learns that there has to come a point when they can no longer expand and from then on contraction will be the order of the day. It is the universal way of things.

So Hamas has the right to oppose occupation. Israel left Gaza to the PA in 2005. The occupation would have been a mere memory if the PA had taken charge. Instead Hamas overthrerw the PA president and murdered Fatah leaders, throwing them off high buildings with no scarcity of witnesses. During Cast Lead Hamas began murdering more Fatah leaders just in case Abbas tried to return to lead his country. Which 'occupation' are they referring to ?

Hamas had no intention of 'hurting' civilians. Hurling down 7,000 missiles onto civilian targets -- their intention was to kill civilians, not 'hurt' them !

Maybe not, but one state with equal rights for all, Jews and Muslims and Christians etc. two languages, return of the expelled Palestinians. As for the name of the state, why not call it peace ? or Life ?

How can they compare the pispot rockets sent by Hamas (of which I do not approve) with the phosphorous bombs and other niceties which were sent on the civilian population in Gaza? Have you seen the destruction in Gaza ? Does it compare to what happened in Sderot ?

United Nations Human Rights Council Judge Richard Goldstone, whose 575-page report on Wednesday condemned Israel for war crimes, fell asleep while he was supposed to be watching a film showing Sderot children fleeing from rocket fire. Noam Bedein, head of the Sderot Media Center, told Israel National News Wednesday morning, ?I screened a film showing the rocket explosions, and Goldstone fell asleep before my eyes." However, he added that he was given ?30 minutes to present eight years of being attacked from rocket fire and mortar shelling.? While Goldstone was napping, the other three judges, Christine Chinkin, an Irishman and a Pakistani, sat silently.? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133450

Zahalka seems to have forgotten that it was the same Ehud Barak who offered Arafat such an amazing settlement that the Arab leaders couldn't believe Arafat rejected it. ...causes the death of more than 1,000 civilians'? Hamas suicide bombers murdered 1,250 Israeli civilians. Of the 1,300 deaths in Gaza Israel claims there were about 390 civilians, in spite of Israel dropping leaflets and phoning civilans to leave the are about to be attacked. Can you imagine Hamas phoning to announce each time they were about to fire one of 7,000 missiles into civilian areas of Israel?

We'll just have to go in like Gaza and defend ourselves and then risk being referred to the war crimes court. Never do it Israel. Don't even think about it! And I mean EVER!!!

As Goldstone did when he signed a letter with known anti Israel activists.That's called prejudiced and would disqualify any judge except in a kangaroo court.

Before the anti-Israeli coalition gets too excited they should give some thought to whether these accusations could be a precedent to a call for an international tribunal to examine possible war crimes by former President Bush, President Obama and the armies of the US, UK, Canada, and others in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been many incidents, such as the German army call for a US Air Force strike, that resulted in many civilian casualties.

The report states that both Hamas and Israel are indictable, so send the report to the Hague and let justice prevail. Both Israel and hamas officials will be given an opportunity to defend themselves. If they resist the eventual supeonas they will be identified as war criminals subject to arrest whenever they leave their countries.

"I guess your Swiss TV is deaf and blind to these otherwise the great humanist that you are you would be spending your time protesting these bigger human rights violations" So Mr. Israel, what you're saying is that as long as the State of Israel's atrocities don't rise to the level of Darfur then it is okay and no one should criticize. What a sad, pathetic individual you are. By the way, have you read the report and can you say that the claims are factually incorrect? I didn't think so.

Not too many people on the planet would deny Israel intentionally targeted civilians with it's genocide in Gaza, and maybe the Israelis and their non-resident religious sycophants are not too familiar with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in particular articles II and III, and the interpretation that the ICC used to prosecute war criminals for genocide and crimes against humanity!

...what a sad defense for the "most moral army in the world" and the "Middle East's only democracy" - both demonstrably false. The Goldstone report is wide-ranging, well supported by solid documentation, and includes the legal underpinnings for the findigs. Good luck in trying to dispute it.

Both the Hamas and Likud governments call the report biased and one-sided. I thought they'd never agree on anything. Random similarity? Goldstone must have hit a nerve.

By a committee established by Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Somalia.

The report is littered with examples such as these which support the Palestinians complicity in the conflict. Page 138 Para 450:"In those instances in which Palestinian armed groups did indeed fire rockets or mortars from urban areas the question remains whether this was done with the specific intent of shielding the combatants from counter-attack" The UN accepts that urban areas were used by Hamas to fight from but then "floats" the suggestion (without a scrap of evidence) that maybe they were just defending themselves? But of course as we all know, those rockets that the UN refers to are NEVER used for self defence. They are ONLY used to fire at Israeli civilians. The UN shoots itself in the foot.

One member of this so called "Commission" Christine Chinkin signed a letter in the Times last March which stated: ‘Israel's bombardment of Gaza is not self-defense - it's a war crime. The rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas deplorable as they are, do not, in terms of scale and effect amount to an armed attack entitling Israel to rely on self-defense...Israel's actions amount to aggression, not self-defense’.

Get this report lots and lots of attention. Force everyone to take notice and consider the validity of the charges. Go for it. Most people aren't even aware of the allegations as of now. They need to hear -- and you can make that happen.

Not surprising; that's all Israel knows how to do, evidently. Peace is not in the Israeli vocabulary, that is, on the state-level. Many Israelis I know are aghast at the constantly bellicose nature of their (shameful) state.

The biggest problem with military censorship is that regular Israeli's never see what the rest of the world sees of their own invasions. Sadly, most Israeli's think their gov't did nothing wrong, because they only got to see what their gov't wanted them to see. The UN was under no such censorship.

How can anyone take Israel's squeals of protestation seriously when it did everything it could to deflect any examination of its actions in Gaza and refused to cooperate in any way with the UN investigation.

Palmor said "one cannot but wonder on which planet was the Gaza Strip they visited". They visited he one that was left after Israel withdrew. A place that no Israeli has been since the war. How can Palmor doubt what was seen, when not a single Israeli has been back since the withdrawal? So who should the UN trust? Palmor, or their own eyes? Let Israel take their protest straight to the ICJ if they feel wronged. They can take both sides of the issue and make a ruling. Put your money where your mouth is, Israel. Agree to have the matter tried by the ICJ. Otherwise, stop committing war crimes and you won't have to worry about reports about your war crimes.

It is unfortunate but the UN calls it the way they see and the way rest of the world saw Israeli war machine killing civilians. The simple truth is if you cannot digest the truth, stop killing innocent people and maybe then the world will see Israel differently...but untill then you have to call out the truth.

Lately what we are seeing in the news is how the Taleban captured the beautiful Swat valley and then prevented the little girls from going to school, tortured the people in the area. Many had to abandon their homes and run to other places. That was recently followed by the Pakistani Army re capturing the valley from the Taleban and torturing them. Prior to that it was the Sudanese government backed militia torturing the poor people in Darfur, abandoning the little babies to starvation, stealing the UN provided food aid, burning their poor villages. I guess your Swiss TV is deaf and blind to these otherwise the great humanist that you are you would be spending your time protesting these bigger human rights violations.

they didn't cooperate because they new their intention was to kill as many they could...

arkansas manufactured white phosphorus...there are other illuminating devices that could have been used instead

Jews, and anything connected with them, will always be pilloried by the sanctimonious of the world. Ignoring the reasons for operation Cast Lead is like ignoring the causes that caused the allies of World War II to decimate Nazi Germany and Japan and their civilians. The sanctimonious & self-righteous strive to prove their morality by debasing the morality of others, especially when, yes, despite all the impugning, the morality of the accused, Israel, is on a far higher plane. With a gilded sense of "moral accomplishment," the excitement is palpable when catching or just implying an Israeli lapse in this pursuit of survival while attempting to maintain morality. Saul Bellow said it best - "Israel is to the West what Switzerland is to the winter holidays ? a moral resort area."

Israel bared media from the strip during operation cast lead but Human rights organizations gave cameras to ordinary Gazans and they stepped up so the truth could be told

Israel is on planet hasbara. The rest of us live on earth. You could spend one year's Israeli GDP on defending Cast Lead and you wouldn't get a single shekel of value. Even the US will have a hard time coming on side. Bush is gone, Israel.

....saw a different kind of war. But you know what, in the rest of the world there was no kind of censorship at all.... ....no "black dust" on the TV screens in Switzerland (Geneva!) + Co. Only "white phosphorus"...:)

that they destroyed, remember? say what you want but rockets rain following assainations and kid nappings almost everytime leading up to the assualt on gaza.

Enough is Enough...... you killed 1300 Gazans last year and you want the world to believe that you are fighting for your freedom, plus what kind of investigator judge this committee has, a jewish Richard Goldstone .........how objective his judgment about Israel.........funny

The UN would probably award the Lockerbie Bomber with the Congressional Medal of Honor if they had one, being that Libya takes charge of the UN next year.

Yigal Palmor and Gabriela Shalev obviously chose not to read Haaretz and other newspapers that reported on such alleged attrocities as the shelling of UN schools killing women and children, the bombing of a UN warehouse with food and medical supplies using white phosphorus, the bombing of the Gaza hospital, the shelling of the Gaza doctor's house killing his two daughters, and other documented reports showing deliberate acts to harm and terrorize civilians. The very fact that Israel chose not to participate in the investigation tends to say that they knew they were guilty.

Planet Hell