U.S. calls UN report on Gaza war unfair to Israel

As an American residing abroad I am angered that Israel and the AIPAC exert such influence on my country's government. It is utterly ridiculous to consider the UN report "unfair to Israel". Simply look at the numbers and any idiot can tell that the Israelis abused the Palestinians and committed war crimes. They need to be held accountable just like they were in the bloodbath they allowed in Sabra and Chatila in Lebanon.

With the same understanding that you had of Iran's threats to Israel, Israel has no problem at all Let's just call it failure to understand in the first and second place, and intentional relaying of disinformation on your part Surely you remember that you took a letter of mine, NMMI was the subject, and distorted the contents to reflect your twisted mind No wonder your ratings stink, accuracy isn't your forte

Why don't you just keep Obama? He doesn't serve the U.S. He's sold his soul like so many before him. He's drining us into the ground and eventually Israel with us. Not that you don't already know that. He belongs to Israel,. He might as well move there.

is that i have NO illusions about the idf to blur my vision.

that one must NEVER question the most moral army in the world... who's order of the day was "kill first and worry about it later"... and who's pious rabbis instilled in it's soldiers God's will that "no distinction be made between man woman or child; they are heathens all and must be smitten"... how silly of me to have ever questioned the most moral army in the world... my mistake... or wait! maybe it wasn't a mistake... that's it...i'm certain it wasn't! you know what it was? it was the realization that when someone turns their head away and remains silent; they share the guilt. and you know what's really sad for israelis, esther? it's that they turn their heads way too much. when it comes to atrocities commited against palestinians by the idf; they are "enablers". all sorts of shock and disgust may be expressed over individual crimes committed...but then heads turn away in silence... and the idf buries it. even when idf soldiers began spilling their guts about what went on; all the idf had to do was shut them up, threaten others with harsh who thinking of coming forward, and then concoct a little lie about hearsay after its own "investigation" that lasted all of 2 days. that's all it took, and heads turned contentedly away again. i'm not foolish esther, i'm just not an israeli; and i have NO inclination to turn my head away.

Nothing new here - neither from the UN nor the US. The status quo prevails.

in combat.Your friends were firing at Israelis making the area a combat zone. Fighting without uniforms amongst civillians is illegal. Unfortunately this kangaroo court ignored it as it did 10000 missiles on Israeli civillians till Israell hit BACK!Targetting Israeli civillians thousands of times over is illegal even if this travesty saw fit to ignore it for years

This is not only totally disingenuous BS, it is a hugely wasted opportunity for the Obama administration to have bent Israel over a barrel in relation to the settlement negotiations. Disgusting.

Spent White Phosphorus shells, with markings which indicate they were made in the USA, were found in Gaza. (Amnesty International)

Is it just me but has anyone else noticed the deafening silence in response to Netanyahu`s request? Is it perhaps they too, like the rest of us, were sickened and appalled by what they saw and read at the time? Or is it because they cannot the credibility and character of Judge Goldstone? Or is it due to the reports massive documentation? Either way war crimes and crimes against humanity on such a massive scale have to be challenged and condemned,and no country, Israel included, is exempt.

Where it belongs,it even ignored Hamas's own videos about human shields.!! The Moral Inversion of Richard Goldstone http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/5334541/the-moral-inversion-of-richard-goldstone.thtml September 17, 2009 Fisking Goldstone: What?s happened to this man? http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2009/09/17/fisking-goldstone-whats-happened-to-this-man/ http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/search/label/Goldstone%20Report

.. describe a bit of it to you. It is a coveted section of real estate along the gorgeous, highly desirable Mediterannean coast, as even the Philistines concurred about 3000 years ago and went about establishing their cities. In the hands of sensible, honest Palestinian brokers a mecca could easily have been built there with the hundred's of millions donated from the generosity of the West, and not even one dollar would have been left over for a Kalashnikov bullet. Instead what Arafat alone sent his wife in France as a monthly stipend was obscene. Paris is expensive but not nearly as much as Sufa made it out to be. Does the UN report mention how the manly Hamas fighters dug extensive tunnel networks for their planned war against Israel and then took cover there themselves during the conflict, instead of being gentlemen and offering up those covered positions to their women and children and facing up to the IDF whom they provoked?

Why did Israel ban reporters from Gaza during "Caste lead"?

.. describe a bit of it to you. It is a coveted section of real estate along the gorgeous, highly desirable Mediterannean coast, as even the Philistines concurred about 3000 years ago and went about establishing their cities. In the hands of sensible, honest Palestinian brokers a mecca could easily have been built there with the hundred's of millions donated from the generosity of the West, and not even one dollar would have been left over for a Kalashnikov bullet. Instead what Arafat alone sent his wife in France as a monthly stipend was obscene. Paris is expensive but not nearly as much as Sufa made it out to be. Does the UN report mention how the manly Hamas fighters dug extensive tunnel networks for their planned war against Israel and then took cover there themselves during the conflict, instead of being gentlemen and offering up those covered positions to their women and children and facing up to the IDF whom they provoked?

In fact you may have noted that a tunnel was attacked just the other day in NORTHERN GAZA! 1.5km long, the purpose of which was to kidnap Israelis. Here's the link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1115690.html So my question to you is: If attacking a tunnel is such a henious crime that it warrants hundreds of Qassams to be sent back to Israel, then why didn't that happen after the tunnel was attacked a couple of days ago? I mean if Hamas had "no choice" but to send back hundreds of Qassams, they would do it every time a tunnel was attacked wouldn't they? NO BDS THEY DID HAVE A CHOICE. They could elect to do nothing, they do it regularly. The fact is they thought they could get away with terrorising the Israeli population indefinitely and Israel finally called their bluff.

...the United States operates in Iraq and Afghanistan at those countries behest. On the other hand Israel holds the West Bank under belligerent occupation and has created the Gaza Ghetto and then committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity against the captive population. It's apples and oranges.

...you done a good job at dealing with the facts, there's just no teaching a ingnut anything that differs from their narrow ideology. No matter what facts or evidence one brings to light, they will still try and sell their ideology driven mantra to the gullible. The trouble is, most people are simply not that gullible anymore.

If the US wanted to assassinate an insurgent in Iraq who happened to be attending a wedding or a funeral they would have no hesitation in sending a drone fired Hellfire missile right into the midst of the proceedings in order to get their man. It happened many times. If 10 or 20 or 30 civilians died along with him well that was just collateral damage right? The greater good etc etc. There would be tens of thousands of related incidents that the US has decided NOT TO INVESTIGATE because the US has ALREADY DECIDED that there is no case to answer. Well imagine if the UN authorised somebody (lets say the Venezualans) to look at every one of those tens of thousands of incidents the US has been involved in Iraq. Imagine if the threat of legal action hung over the heads of US commanders. I think there would be some very nervous military commanders out there. Some humility please, you are very lucky to have that veto.

hamas places their ammo and terrorists among their citizens, in mosques, hospitals, schools, apartment houses, so if Israel retaliates they will be harshly criticized for targetting civilians. Israel actually dropped leaflets in arabic to warn the civilians to leave. When have you ever heard of anyone going that far to avoid harming civilians? In the end, only hamas is to blame for their civilian deaths. They were warned repeatedly by Israel to stop targeting Israeli civilians. What other nation would have allowed this to go on for 8 years? When al qaida hit the US, within months we took them out... months not 8 years.

...as do millions of others. Israel is in very serious legal trouble. The only thing that will possibly stave off the trouble is if Israel makes a quid pro quo deal with President Obama this week.

a: "2) Becuase the report is biased" Just a wonderfully generic putdown, arik. Now, where, exactly, does the report display that bias? a: "3) Because the United States of Obama and other democratic countries are killing a lot of people in Afghanistan, and that is just the beginning." And that is a plea that "all us war criminals need to stick together on this!". Look at your "reasons" again, arik, and ponder how far your propaganda has come from "the IDF is the most moral army in the world!" Because now it's "but all armies routinely commit war crimes, so why are you picking on ours?"

first, my post was a direct response to mark's libelous claims against the idf. second, your claim that casualties in iraq were caused exclusively by the civil war is incorrect. there were many casualties that were the direct result of u.s. actions. third, i do not want to get into an argument about this since i respect the u.s. so do not force the matter. fourth, the goldstone report, accusing the entire state of israel and the idf of intentionally committing war crimes is a disgrace and a falsehood. fifth, the u.s. would do well to withdraw from the human rights council which is made up of the worse human rights violators on planet earth. countries which are totalitarian dictatorships and routinely violate human rights and which engage in acts of terror, cannot sit in judgment on a democracy which is obliged to fight an asymetric war against a totalitarian terror group which has repeatedly called for israel's destruction.

kill iraqis afghans or somalis. you are so misinformed geoff one does not know where to begin.best check the afghan civilian deaths in wikipedia.the information is produed by numerous sources.please read for yourself. the best figures from the american viewpoint is one hundred thousand casualties.others claim one million were killed. geoff it is simply not good enough for you to transmit erroneous information to this site and hope to get away with it.

i am sorry geoff but i do not accept that statement at all. huge numerous of iraqi civilians were killed by american soldiers.please check wikipedia.as an example the town of faluja was flattened by overwhelming american fire .thousands of iraqi civilians were killed. the british medical journal the lancet wrote that the americans were directly responsible for over six hundred thousand iraqi deaths. i cannot judge the reliability of that number. i apologise but your contention that few iraqi civilians were killed is patently. ridiculous.

jim i understand you do not agree with the premise posed by your interlocutor that palestinians could have had a state 62 years ago.yet it is so. had the arab states accepted the partition of palestine and not invaded the region there would indeed have been a palestinian state.no question.that is history.

david you are badly informed.americal killed 4200-4500 afghan civilians in the first year of the war alone.there after the number of dead fron 2001 to 2009 have multiplied the figures several times.best ask the afghans the meaning of "overwhelming destruction" please try and give us information with some more integrity.fibbing is a disgrace.

You are insisting on seeing the world as you wish it to be and not as it really is. From the WSJ article posted by Dutch above, that gives you a chrono order of the events leading up to the war: But on June 19, 2008, Hamas and Israel commenced a six-month truce. Neither side complied perfectly. Israel refused to substantially ease the suffocating siege of Gaza imposed in June 2007. Hamas permitted sporadic rocket fire -- typically after Israel killed or seized Hamas members in the West Bank, where the truce did not apply. Either one or no Israelis were killed (reports differ) by rockets in the half year leading up to the current attack. Israel then broke the truce on Nov. 4, raiding the Gaza Strip and killing a Palestinian. Hamas retaliated with rocket fire; Israel then killed five more Palestinians. In the following days, Hamas continued rocket fire -- yet still no Israelis died. Israel cannot claim self-defense against this escalation, because it was provoked by Israel's own violation. An armed attack that is not justified by self-defense is a war of aggression. Under the Nuremberg Principles affirmed by U.N. Resolution 95, aggression is a crime against peace.

i am sorry bds but that is a barefaced lie.

"Don`t get me wrong; the most likely outcome is that the USA *will* sink this report." 1) "We don't get you wrong" Johnboy. This is the most likly outcome Why? 2) Becuase the report is biased 3) Because the United States of Obama and other democratic countries are killing a lot of people in Afghanistan, and that is just the beginning. Are you loking for more reasons???

until they are fair and balanced. Until then all UN resolutions must be ignored

In addition, and candidly, I see this spate of general comments trying to link American troops to war crimes as nothing more than an attempt to take the focus off the crimes which were allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers by claiming that "everyone does it". Well, I am sorry, but everyone does not do it. It would have been well if Israel had cooperated with Justice Goldstone (who is very far from an anti-Israel hardliner, as he is a trustee of Hebrew University). But it is still not too late for Israel to conduct its own open and independent investigation and to provide the world with its evidence that its soldiers did not commit war crimes, even if, in some instances, civilians were tragically killed.

Cipora -- With respect to Iraqi civilians who have been killed in the war, no one contends that that large number of people was killed by American soldiers. On the contrary, those people were, for the most part, killed in the civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, in which each side score "points" by murdering the other's civilians. If we are guilty of anything, it is of the arrogant stupidity of blundering into a situation we really didn't understand and weren't prepared for -- but that is not a war crime. With respect to war crimes actually committed by American troops, that number is, in fact, very low, and allegations of war crimes against American troops are usually promptly investigated and, if appropriate prosecuted. This is consistent with the overall U.S. strategy of trying to win the support of the local population, so that the local government can take over and we can bring our troops home.

... that peace breaks out, finally wondering why it took so long...as it became obvious no one side can destroy the other...

Goldstone's job was to tell the world the truth, not to be nice to the Israelis and persuade them to be kinder to the Gazans. He did a very good job. The IDF deliberately targeted civilians in many cases and in others it failed to consider the harm its actions would have on them.

How many settlements would we be allowed in Mexico? Natural growth? How far into Mexico could we claim as 'ours' by some fairy tale reasoning? How many Mexicans would we get to murder before they started firing the toy 'rockets'? Would we be able to create puppet organizations to keep the Mexican people divided? Would we be able to split Mexico into a small section, and a bigger section and impose movement restriction on them? Would we issue special ID cards and license plates for Mexicans, and based upon those, not allow them freedom of movement? Would we be able to kick the Mexicans out of the border towns, and claim ALL of it as ours with fairy tale reasoning? Would we be able to control all of Mexico's air, sea, and land access points with military force? Would we be able to blockade Mexico indefinitely? Will Israel use it's veto power in the UNSC to protect us? Do you see just how stupid your little hypothetical situation is yet? I could go on for DAYS

No, Hamas did not need to respond to the IDF attacks which killed 13 people. However, that was when the ceasefire was broken so why should they not respond? The attack on the Gazan police ceremony in December was planned in June, as the IDF has admitted. They knew the date, so they had to have an excuse before then.

World leaders will be at the UN next week. Watch the reaction to the likes of Khadafy & Ahmadinejad. You want to bet they will receive enthusiastic standing ovations. You want to bet how many of these same individuals will stand up and walk out when Netanyahu takes the stand. At this point anything the UN does or says must be seen through the light of its current control by the muslim block that want nothing more than to destroy Israel. How many votes against the horrors in Darfur, or lack of human rights, religious tolerance, and crimes against women in Saudi Arabia? They can't beat Israel in war so they are attacking Israel's very right to exist.

Why did the IDF not just blow up the Israeli end of the tunnel? Or wait to ambush anyone coming through? Was there a tunnel at all?

We are back to the chicken or egg thing and we'll never convince each other to move away from what we believe.

......"Although the report addresses all sides of the conflict, its overwhelming focus is on the actions of Israel," spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters....." Well, could that perhaps be because the scale of killing and destruction by the Isreli side was so "overwhelming"? Hm ? David

The US are still reviewing the content of the report and no doubt are doing everything in their power to stop Israel or members of the Israeli Government being referred to a war crime tribunal. They will probably be successful in their attempts and once again justice will not have been done. nor seen to have been done. Does this not matter to Israelis? Your leaders commit war crimes against your neighbours time and time again. Who are the next victims? Is it okay to imprison, kill and murder Israeli citizens if they are Palestinians and want a Palestinian state. What happens if the Israeli Government then starts targetting the Israeli Citizens who support peace? They have already killed off a few international peace protestors? What kind of country do you want? Are you still a democracy or have you already become a state of terror?

...were running from the rockets almost dayly into shelters...and before that Hamas killed hundreds of Israeli civilians...

I forgot already how many tries I made for this statement...

Hilil If Israeli parents fear war then why do they allow their children to go out and kill other peoples' sons and daughters and mothers and fathers? (Few animals do this to their own as they wouldn't survive.) Then they call their sons and duaghters heroes and the whole thing gets as sicker than hell--they become embedded in myth making and paralyzed themselves in militay fear and nonsense about making their lives safer I wish you would take a look a look at Exudos 15 where Moses reminds people it wasn't a might army that set them free but their dedication to the word (Indeed, the might army gets swollowed up in the sea In 1 Smauel 8-10-22 God warns them what a might King will do to them--take their taxes & enslave them &their children in his army So a diiferent call was being made to the Israelites to avoid such ways and people and be the kind of people such as Solomon unlike his father David who was able to build the temple and live in peace. Dutch

I don't know what history you have been reading but to say that Palestine would have had a country 62 years a ago "if only" is a joke! Machevelian Israel has blocked all chances of peace time and time again! The cardinal rule in Israel is never never show any defined borders from its inseption! Double speak and double think is clouding reality but I am not the only one that see's through it and we aren't arm chair air heads. Why don't you read try reading Chomsky you might get some true perspective.....I won't hold my breath though....PEACE EVER?

the majority of the shia villagers in south lebanon i would guess feel like we do in israel.it is their leaders who are looking for a fight.they will not get it from us unless they manage to provoke us again.hopefully that will never happen again.

the defence ministry has to prepare for any situation.that is its job.

the consequences of wars are not seen in the short term.barak has learned that and hence his reluctance to fight the gazans. the july 2006 has stopped hizballah from wanting to fight israel.we will see how long that lasts.i think it may last a while.

After 8 yrs of Bush and the daily spilling of Palestinian blood in the territories people like myself don't have the stomach for this BS any- more and and will start damning them also. Dutch

The israeli army's cross border actions and the killing of 5-6 militants essentially broke the cease-fire and thus once again the Palestinians were blamed by Israel. Please see the column below which explains this aspect too. I admit it's all part of the same in the end. Israel set Hamas up. Dutch http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123154826952369919.html

(retry) johnboy is oh so DISTRESSED that the US, whom he has PINNED high HOPES of "TOUGH LOVE" towards Israel, is NOT listening to his BILIOUS rants. So he is TRYING his BEST to RECONSTRUCT the US State Dept's statement into an IMBECILIC spin - Yes, the US says this but it does NOT say that and what is REALLY important is what the US does NOT say cos it MEANS what it DOES say is NOT important. Probably the ONLY thing that has MORE drama than johnboy's SELF-serving WHINING is WATCHING the paint DRY. Yawn....

"A Friday dump by a nobody"??? What about THURSDAY's statement by US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice: "We have long expressed our very serious concern with the mandate that was given (to Goldstone?s team) by the Human Rights Council prior to our joining the Council, which we viewed as unbalanced, one-sided and basically unacceptable." ?We will expect and believe that the appropriate venue for this report to be considered is the Human Rights Council (in Geneva) and that?s our strong view. And most importantly, our view is that we need to be focused on the future.? Get it? Goldstone's report belongs in the Human Rights Council, where it will languish in richly deserved obscurity, rather than being referred to the UNSC which alone could enliven the jurisdiction of the ICC. Good night, Richard.

no two child families would vote for governments that go to war.the thought of their children losing their lives is traumatic and the anxiety in israeli families is palpable to any observer. so goldstone hinting israel willingly went into gaza targetting palestinian civilians shows he knows little about israel.and that is the tragedy of the goldstone commission.

Your version of how the Gaza war started is wishful thinking; it was provoked by Israel and the Qasams were only the pretext: "Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago( Aug 2008), even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well. Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organizations operating in the Strip." (Haaretz Feb 2, 2009) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050426.html Israel had also prepared a PR campaign in advance headed by Dan Gillerman. Your version of how the war started, Hillel, is folklore. Read the Haaretz article.

Where was the UN when Palestinians were forced to leave their homesteads? Btw, since Gaza was sprinkled with cast lead the almost daily shootings, air raids and rocket launches haven't stopped.

so,from a purely military,utilitarian point of view,was this a successful "operation"?will the next one achieve its objectives,whatever they may be?have all the innumerable previous "operations" brought stability to israel?indeed,was it their brief?

What more did you expect the Goldstone Report to say about the dozen people killed over an 8-year period other than it was a criminal act and that the Hamas leaders should be prosecuted for it? In comparison, 1400 Palestinians killed, mostly civilians over a 3 week period warranted a more detailed explanation. Goldstones opinion was that Hamas was guilty too; what did he leave out?

Rob, it's looking like I as an Arab have more respect for Dayan the foxy warrior that you as a Jew shamefully calling him a drunk. Insulting me or Dayan won't change history; the quote about the Golan was taken from the NYT which is more serious than both of us. His daughter that you haven't gotten around to insulting yet has confirmed the validity of his statement to the NYT.

BDS:"The ceasefire with Hamas was working and the number of Qassams (large fireworks) was not large enough to justify Cast Lead, which the IDF had been preparing since June, so they attacked an alleged tunnel and killed about a dozen Gazans on Nov 4 and 5 in order to provoke more rockets" Let's get two things straight: 1/. It was not an "alleged tunnel", it WAS a TUNNEL. Hamas stated it was a tunnel, why should you think any different? 2/. Hamas were not forced by Israel to respond with Qassams, they did this all by themselves. Their choice. After all the Qassams were not used defensively, they were used to create terror in Israel and they did this up to 80 times per day. It was THIS that started Cast Lead, not the tunnel. No Qassams.... No Cast Lead.

for the gazans to stop firing rockets and mortar at the south.gradually a consensus built up in israel.but still barak the defence minister did not send soldiers into action.he waited and warned gaza again and again.but the gazans were in no mood to heed warnings or take into account their own self interest. so barak sent the idf into gaza to protect israel.parents of soldiers spent sleepless tearful nights wondering if their young would be among the casualties. that is the stuff of wars in israel judge goldstone.we in israel fear war.we do not welcome it.

i seriously wonder when the culture of impudence and hypocrisy will end. there are at least, with the lowest estimates, 100,000 iraqui civilian dead. yet you have the nnerve to criticise the idf and the israeli civilian leadership. i had, in the past, warned against the well known syndrom of "the ugly american."

well goldstone do we have another incipient goldstone report in the making? should we attack them and give you and the rest of your commission including christine chinkin a chance to have another go at us?

mr landau the former editor of haaretz wrote that goldstone messed up a big chance to get israel to sympathise with the gazans. by saying that israel deliberately targetted gazan civilians the judge lost the israeli public.

mark you wish to clarify the origin of goods sent to gaza.lewiston man israel makes vast amounts of donations to the poorer nations. we rush to earhquake zones and give help.we recently went to taiwan and handed over water treatment facilities after the floods in that country made life impossible in some areas. we give a great deal to africa.our people help africans with agricultural development. so your question should not be confined to gaza charity but to whether israel helps the needy nations

that is what they do when they fire at israeli troops from among their civilian population.

as far as you are concerned there is a huge elephant in the room.and it is this. why is israel picked on to the exclusion of all others.in particular mark of lewiston your mass killings (tens of thousands) of civilians in afghanistan. why is that to be forgotten and israel brought before the courts?

mr goldstone you really have to address that queston if you even wish begin to restore your credibility.

"just as well the goldstone commission was not present in the second world war" what would they have made of it?

to say that the gaza police was a civilian agency even though it is composed of members of the al-qassam brigades and of the members of the popular resistance committees, is highly misleading. to say that witnesses were reliable when abu obeida, head of the police claimed that 80 members of the idf were killed, is dishonest. nor can anyone deny that israel held her fire every day for three hours; nor that the purpose of the daily cease fire was to re-supply gaza through crossings from israel. since israel did open the crossings, and since she did allow goods to enter gaza every day during the opperation, the accusation that israel systematically and deliberately attacked the civilian population is patently false.

or do you really think that the hamas police, headed by abu obeida, is really a civilian agency?

Your point 11 is at best inaccurate. Israel gives Gaza NOTHING. Israel allows other countries and NGOs to buy Israeli goods and then sometimes allows those goods to be delivered to the people inside Gaza. Your statement makes it look like a gift from Israel. I doubt you are completely uninformed.

We have one Jew that make an honest analysis over the so called war on Gaza. As resolt it point oout facts that coondemn Israel. Everybody diisagree!??????

...that skips prosecutions, and recriminations (if possible...)

the last jew who entered pakistan openly had his head cut off with a butcher's knife. yet goldstone accepted a pakistani national as a member of the commission.no one protested. american juries are routinely vetted by lawyers of the defendent. haaretz did not do its job.

why did the un appoint a commission to report on the gazan war but did not do the same for chechniya afghanistan sri lanka iraq. that is the biggest question left unanswered.why does haaretz not highlight this naked discrimination against israel.ari shavit did mention it in passing yet no one else did.

10 the report completely disregards the fact that hamas is a totalitarian group. it is well known that totalitarian entities will use their own populations for purposes of waging war. the report also disregards the difficulty of defending against an asymetrical war. 11 the report accuses israel of systematic and deliberate attack on the civilian population. however, it disregards that israel agreed to a daily three hour cease fire and during that time re-supplied gaza with basic necessities. 12 the goldstone report is highly biased. although it acknowledges that hamas, which started firing missiles into israel since 2001, without stopping after disengagement; and even the report acknowledges that hamas has never accepted the requirements of the international community to cease terror, the report nevertheless puts the blame for the gaza tragedy squarly on israel's shoulders.

obviously you have never visited israel to see the giant buildings of major companies for research on it products in israel. or looked into the patent office to see the filed patents on it products ! switch off your computer it was designed in israel like your cell phone .

Great comment...and this needs to end. Period. It's clear, Israel wants the land for itself and will stop at nothing to get it. How far is the land? Does it have an end? Or does it increase at their whim? Maybe there are many many more years to come and many more people to "get out of their way" to achieve it...and the story and history books go on...and on...

" after it`s initial barrage of rockets early on, hamas disappeared into the woodwork for the duration... so how in the hell could it have conducted itself deplorably or flaunted international humanitarian law "during the conflict"?" (eric) They didn't disappear in the "woodwork" but in many houses, schools and hospitals from where they could shoot at and kill soldiers. They learned that from Hezbollah. Don't you be a hero! There were testimonies of Palestinians whose houses were so occupied by the "fighters" of Hamas... Of course, I am not speaking of the hundreds of Israeli civilians and children killed by Hamas over the years. I am amazed at the lengths you are going in trying to find good things in Hamas and bad ones in the IDF.

... tools! Obviously you haven't been to this area of the world and until you tune up, get a fresh air filter, and go and learn something before you post, you'll always appear as an armchair airhead who's not firing on all pistons. You should have seen the 62 year old Palestinian State by now if they had only chosen peace in the first place and not violence based on their religious pompousness and bias along with their blatant historical revisionism!

Ed:"On the other hand, the report on Israel`s actions was not incorrect and should not be ignored" Ed you might be happy only hearing the Palestinian account of events but I certainly am not. The HRC report contains allegations that they ask be investigated further. The extenuating circumstances are at this stage still unknown. The UNHRC themselves do not present them as the final definitive account. You shouldn't either.

It really aught to be legal to smite infidels in New Mexico. Say, can I have some coordinates to fire missiles at, maybe near you? If you move I'll make sure the UN prosecutes you for Crimes against Humanity or some such nonsense.

Please don't overtax your cranial matter on my account, the sort of mobiles and computers I and my friends use have no components that a state whose GDP depends on orange exports could possibly manufacture....

That is what we should be asking? Why did Cast lead I stop? When will Cast Lead II begin? Only than will peace have a chance!

It's a good sign that the US did not jump on the band wagon with the biased UN and its false report. The Hamas terrorist are the very reason this unfortunate conflict began, continued and has not ended. Good for the US for showing some morality for a change!

Too late to shoot the messenger -- Israel boycotted the investigation, disregarding the opportunity to influence the outcome. Jewish-Arab reconciliation and investigating warcrimes on behalf of the UN are different matters. For a reconciliation both sides ought to be prepared to admit their own crimes and prosecute those responsible.

BDS The attack on the tunnel was appropriate as it was under ongoing construction and approaching the Israeli border. For what purpose? Why do apologists for Palestinian violence always describe whatever action Israel takes in response (or before hand preemptively) as nefarious and intended to provoke the otherwise peaceful Palestinians who are supposedly scrupulously observing whatever putative ceasefire in place at the time? Israel will do what it must to defend itself.

I totally agree! Wish I could send your comment to the US State Department! Hope you do! I saw the press briefing, and got really nauseated!

at nuremburg no one asked why allied leaders were not on trial for killing 800,000 german civillians from the air and 1.5 million japanes civillians with nuclear weapons ? because mogus there is adifference between the evil of terrorism and the defenders against it ! your analogy is faulty becuse you lack thought and equilibrium !

Walid, The problem isn't "meaningless words" that everyone can say. Do you know how many vodka has he drunk before to say that? The problem is that someone read that meaningless words, found them serious, was incapable to think that 2+2 can't give 5...and pasted them thinking to be clever. Next time, before to paste, try to think : In demilitarized area, farmers can go in, yes or not? You will avoid to appear ridiculuos, more than who said that.

the following was not brought to the attention of haaretz readers: professor christine chinkin a member of the goldstone commission had accused israel of war crimes in a letter to the sunday times on january 9 2009.her mind was made up well before the commission had started its work.this bias was pointed out by un watch and was rejected by professor chinkin.

hiding in the basement of a hospital the hamas high command showed real regard for humanity ?? booby trapping of peoples homes was really commendable ? eric shows his usual idiocy !

The U.S. has been protecting Israel from condemnation for years, even when that condemnation is deserved. If anyone expected "change" from Obama, they will be in for a major letdown. This president, as those before him, know that to challenge Israel is politically difficult given the overwhelming strength of the Israeli lobby in the U.S. One day a president will really exert some courage and the world will be better off for it. But Obama will not be that president and the world is worse off for it.

That's pure wishful thinking. Remember the scene in 'Aladdin' where Jafar demands that the wizard support him in his fight with Aladdin? (Anyone with kids will be involuntarily familiar with the film). So the wizard starts chanting 'Jaffer, Jaffar, he's our man.' Remember that? It was about like that. We kow-towed, but after a conspicuous delay, as little as possible, and just so AIPAC et al wouldn't have an opening. After all, the relationship is about like the one in the movie. Jaffar may still be our master, but we've decided we don't like him much.

"We note in particular that Israel has the democratic institutions to investigate and prosecute abuses, and we encourage it to use those institutions," Kelly. By "democratic institution"Kelly's referring to the instance where, upon pressure from outside, the prosecutor IDF and the judge IDF tried the suspect IDF whose advocate was IDF, all this drama happening behind the closed doors of the IDF and the body of evidences collected by the IDF ending-up in the secret IDF archives. By narrow miss the suspect IDF was fully acquitted. And guess what. Two days ago the PM called the Goldstein report a "Kengaroo trial". Did Kelly ask himself what's the difference between this "democratic institution" and a military putch trial in some jungle? The IDF is a champion in remaking civilians into combatants, but if Kelly were more accountable than a kid with basic maths skills, he'd compare the male & female casualties in B'tselem and IDF's reports.

Between June 19th and Nov 4th (when Israel broke the ceasefire) only fifteen (15) Qassam rockets hit Israel, none of them launched by Hamas. See the oleaginous Mark Regev's confirmation of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=zfFMZ7Y-s_c&feature=related The ceasefire with Hamas was working and the number of Qassams (large fireworks) was not large enough to justify Cast Lead, which the IDF had been preparing since June, so they attacked an alleged tunnel and killed about a dozen Gazans on Nov 4 and 5 in order to provoke more rockets. They had to have this 'justification' so they could carry out the planned attack on the Police graduates.

How many rockets launched from Mexico do you think would have to fall into the U.S. before the U.S would invade and put a stop to them? You tell me. "Should we bomb the hell out of Pakistan without regard for the civilian population because terrorists operate there?"

The very next morning Obama won the democratic investiture, Hillary Clinton took him in front of a AIPAC panel, where Obama swore he was an ardent Israel supporter. He passed the test with flying colors, saying Jerusalem will be the Jewish state capital. Bush never dared to say so !! AIPAC supported Obama during the election. Now as a loyal dog, Obama bent to the wishes of his masters. Nothing new.

The United States is guilty neither of crimes against itself nor of crimes against humnity,(it is ASTOUNDING how frequentlt the idealogues of the destroy israel bunch repeat those words because it correctly underscores the abject unfairness of the Goldstone report. All the US is doing is signalling that those of you who think that there is "international consensus" on the subject need to think again. There is unquestionably a consensus among the most virulent anti-Israel cadres that ANYTHING that attacks Israel is good but that, dear Ivar, does not "consensus" make and consensus is a meaningless and valueless term in your precious "international law". Consensus is a word social workers employ when they can't get agreement on process. It is clearly disappointing to you that the US stands against your vision, but, see, it does and you and the rest of your anti-Zionist "consensus" are going to have to live with it. As for war crimes; the only ones that fit that bill are the Hamas rockets.

"its conclusions regarding hamas' deplorable conduct and its failure to comply with international humanitarian law during the conflict are more general and tentative"~kelly if i recall correctly, after it's initial barrage of rockets early on, hamas disappeared into the woodwork for the duration... so how in the hell could it have conducted itself deplorably or flaunted international humanitarian law "during the conflict"? how could the report on hamas be anything OTHER THAN "general and tentative" when it spent most of its time in hiding? now you want to talk "general and tentative"? that's exactly what this guy's comment amounts to. someone's grasping for a reason to justify the claim that the report's unfair to israel; but there's nothing substantial to latch onto. the result? a reasoning that is at best, "general and tentative".

among americans taxpayers and its putting his tail between his legs and backing to the real world, the real vision of the world, since UN only represent the arabs and the oil that is put in the pockets of the corrupts in this failed institutiom

Kelley may have "blasted" the report, but he did something nobody ever would have heard under the Bush people. "We note in particular that Israel has the democratic institutions to investigate and prosecute abuses, and we encourage it to use those institutions," he said. That's almost a call for an end to the IDF/Government of Israel - CULTURE OF IMPUNITY. This, too, is what Goldstone called for. Do a transparent investigation. End the cover-ups.

....then it certainly must be the worst kept "top secret" in this world...:) Believe it or not, but quite a few people around the globe are still allowed to see what they see with their own eyes.... P.S. Sorry, if that once again wasn't "philosophical" enough for you...:)

Indeed, unresolved difference of opinion between us may lead to misunderstandigs particularly when our posts are ambiguous. Your No.1 is a perfect example: "the one AND ONLY convincing argument is...". (my capitals). This means that everything else, every other argument, is NOT convincing, i.e. wrong. Which would be in line with your leftism... By the way, for me, leftism or rightism is just a one-sided view of politics. (a la Goldstone, as the US is rightly saying; he mentioned Hamas' crimes too, but just "en passant").

I agree the report focuses more on Israel than Hamas. Maybe because Israel has the ability to make corrections and Hamas is a terrorist group with no rules. On the other hand, the report on Israel's actions was not incorrect and should not be ignored.

should israel get into trouble with the international courts at the hague then the united states is far more vulnerable to similar charges.america protects itself by protecting israel.

The Germans could have made the argument that the world was biased as The soviets, under Stalin, killed over 20 million and no one batted an eye. The world hopefully is no longer blind and should prosecute ALL war crimes whether it be Sri lanka, the US, Rawanda, Israel or whomever.

Israel breaks a standing cease fire for no reason. Rockets were not being fired into Israel by Hamas at the time. The IAF bombs a Police Station where young recruits are being trained and the UN investigation uncovers 39 cases where war crimes and crimes against humanity were blantantly committed. Hamas responds by firing rockets into Israel, also a war crime. To defend such atrocities under the guise of fighting terrorism is rediculous. Should we bomb the hell out of Pakistan without regard for the civilian population because terrorists operate there? TRUTH DOES NOT FEAR INVESTIGATION. Honest mistakes can be forgiven. Outright murder cannot. This MUST go to the Hague as a message to all governments to respect International Law and legal conventions.

Well John how else do you propose Israel respond to indiscriminate rocket attacks over a 7 year period?

"Can anyone explain to me, why a "liberal" U.S. president Obama should side with an extremist Israeli governement against a liberal South-African with an excellent reputation...???" Your not-so-neutral roots are showing, Dino. After all, in your world, there isn't supposed to be any right or wrong, good or bad, etc., correct? In your world, there are no "sides", right? So, why would you have Obama "side" with Goldstone? Only 1 possible explanation: You are about as "neutral" in matters concerning Israel as Osama Bin Laden. If you'd read the UN report or the commentaries about it, you'd know that it was much like everything else the UN puts out...a wortheless, one-sided, anti-Israel, pro-Arab piece of crap (hmm, a lot like you). No one here in talkback is surprised at your support for it. You're quite predictable, right down to the hyper-punctuation, misplaced use of parentheses and quotation marks, and the ever-present (...:)). Read a grammar book.

Rob, sorry for the delay in answering you. I did not put words in your hero's mouth when he described what he did. You should address your question to the Israelis. If you don't like the quote, you can always try editing it at Wikiquotes or complain to the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/11/world/general-s-words-shed-a-new-light-on-the-golan.html

Hey Marc Leb ?Israel broke the ceasefire on November 5th? Do you have a calendar? I was in the Negev on Oct 21st and 2 rockets flew out of Gaza and landed in Israel So who broke the ceasefire?

Institutional violence which includes land annexation, humiliation,curfew,daily living under racist laws ie Jew only roads and arbitrary arrest etc etc. Hypocracy rules in this "shining democracy" one can only imagine how little of Palestine would be left if the Palestinians had not resisted! .....US support only proves how much power the Israeli lobby has and how the US has been taken over by Christian fundamentalists that will O.K. ANYTHING Israel does or doesn't do! After all its biblical and Gods gift......PEACE EVER?

Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, dare to go there?

And what about Hamas declaring Israel the enemy the day they were elected, who broke ceasefire first is debatable but irrelevant, if you have an entity living near you, sworn to destroy you and shows it daily on their public TVs, calling jews pigs and etc. what r we talking about? Hamas are the good guyz? Hanging and torturing Fatah members like never before

Walid, there are many unanswered questions for you in the comments about Facebook and Golan. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1114725.html

... unresolved difference of opinion between us, that is irrelevant to the current discussion...

Wondering why a "liberal" Obama would side with an "extremnist" Israeli government and then slyly suggesting that he "could not do what he liked to" for "whatever reasons" is yet another way of saying he's being stymied by the "Jewish lobby" or "AIPAC" or "jewish power" and all that stuff. Try to be less naive Dino and understand that the fundamental values of the US are not as cut and dried as our notorious catch-all labels of "liberal" or "consrevative" or right or left. Sometimes, we look at something like the Goldstone Report and recognize its flaws; especially those the "liberal" "African-American" US Ambassador to the UN pointed out. Or (maybe), she's been hobbled for "whatever reasons", eh Dino???. Recognizing that you never stop your Jew-baiting is not difficult. Understanding why Haaretz keeps affording you so much broadband is much more complex.

Your words. "Why are they (eyes of Obama) not allowed to see what they see?" Very interesting, so Obama is frightened? Who schares him? How the manage it?! And last but not the least how DO YOU know this apparantly top secret information. PS. No Dino do not worry you do not sound phylosophical

You are picking on Esther with wrong reasons. Of course the rockets on Sderot are wrong but like the rest, you are refusing to recognize that the rockets are caused by the occupation, the siege, the checkpoints, the land thefts, the imprisonments, the targeted assassinations and the rest of the goodies provided to the Palestinians. Rockets are not being shot at Sderot because this is a Palestinian national sport. End the Palestinian grievances and you'd see how they can be nice neighbours.

....to free Gilad Shalit and roughly 10'000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

"Neither of those are outright REJECTIONS of either step, in the way that Bibi is pleading for an outright REJECTION." You are being very naive or is it wishful thinking? Everyone knows that politicians do not make clear cut statements when they have audiences with varied opinions (specially in Obama's case where the whole Arab world is listening). These statements from the Obama administration are as hard as can be expected regarding the opposition of the administration to the report. It is clear that the adminstration will oppose any concrete action against Israel.

"We note in particular that Israel has the democratic institutions to investigate and prosecute abuses, and we encourage it to use those institutions," Kelly. By "democratic institution"Kelly's referring to the instance where, upon pressure from outside, the prosecutor IDF and the judge IDF tried the suspect IDF whose advocate was IDF, all this drama happening behind the closed doors of the IDF and the body of evidences collected by the IDF ending-up in the secret IDF archives. By narrow miss the suspect IDF was fully acquitted. And guess what. Two days ago the PM called the Goldstein report a "Kengaroo trial". Did Kelly ask himself what's the difference between this "democratic institution" and a military putch trial in some jungle? The IDF is a champion in remaking civilians into combatants, but if Kelly were more accountable than a kid with basic maths skills, he'd compare the male & female casualties in B'tselem and IDF's reports.

"The one and only convincing argument is:-Kelly said it was important for the world to remain focused on trying to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks" (Esther) NO! All US arguments are convincing! I regret to see that you are slowly becoming anti-Israeli and anti-IDF. That's how the above looks like...

What you would have wanted was that our kids would "differentiate" between Hamas "fighters" shooting at us from among their population and the the non-fighters near them, right? And kill only the shooters...precisely...without touching anyone else... No. I am sorry. You wouldn't want that. No war! Just continue to let the rockets fall on Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba and Gedera and wait for more...

... in his South African apartheid rulings he aimed primarily at reconciliation and less at retribution... ... in his Gaza rulings he seems to neglect reconciliation entirely, in favor of retribution (eg. sending Israeli officers to an internaional court)... ... it is precisely this failing that riles Obama, who above all believes in striving for peace and dialog, no matter how arduous... ... Obama has the far greater challenge: bringing two ingrained 'idealistic refuseniks', Israel and the Palestinians, to the negotiatiating table... ... Goldstone had no such constraint...

....some new glasses !! :) P.S. Make no mistake, B.O.'s eyes see very well.... ....the only question ist: Why are they not allowed to see what they see...??? :) Sorry for getting (slightly) philosophical here....

I: "US veto of international consensus is a disgrace" Kelly didn't say that the USA would block this from going to the UNSC, nor that the USA would veto this in the UNSC too prevent it going to the ICC. The USA has stated that it doesn't WANT either of those two things from happening, and that is does want to keep this entirely inside the UNHRC Sure. That doesn't mean that the USA has categorically stated that it will not allow this to go outside the four walls of the UNHRC. Don't get me wrong; the most likely outcome is that the USA *will* sink this report. But that ain't "a given". Not by a long shot.

....that Kelly hasn't actually ruled anything out. The State Department hasn't REJECTED the findings OR the conclusions of the report, rather the statement said that Goldstone was "unfair" to focus on a USA ally and not on that ally's Most Despised Enemy. No shit, hey? Kelly said that the USA "wanted to keep discussion of the report within the council". He also said that it "had very serious concerns about a recommendation that it be raised at other bodies, including the International Criminal Court" Neither of those are outright REJECTIONS of either step, in the way that Bibi is pleading for an outright REJECTION. The USA is showing support for an ally - as it should - but (as binny rightly points out) that support is not coming from anyone of cabinet-rank.... THEY don't want to touch this with a 10-foot pole.

I do think that is the case. The Goldberg report and the reactions on the report can be a proof. There can come a time that even the mighty can be put on trial, so we can say with some more conviction that no man is above the law. The argument that these kinds of trials are ?political? is twisted because it is the politics that have let mass murderers go free from conviction. When the politics no longer can save criminals, it is politics to, but another aspect of it. I hope fore more steps in this direction that let the International criminal court investigate also powers like US, China, and so on. It would make the crimes less convenient and give the people with lesser power more hope for a just world. By support of the International justice you support a more moral and safer world.

I wonder how many here on this forum have actually read the press briefing of the US State Department? It is very easy.You just go to state.gov. This article claims: "The Obama administration on Friday sharply criticized a United Nation report.." SHARPLY? Although Kelly says the report overwhelmingly focuses on Israel it is not a SHARP criticism. It is a fact that the report is 9/10 about the Israel and everyone should know why. Who perpetrated the most damage? The press report also, very importantly, says: "We believe this report should be discussed within the Human Rights Council,and we look forward to participating in that discussion. We will approach discussions on the report keeping in mind the underlying causes of the tragic events in Gaza earlier this year - the lack of paece agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and the attacks by Hamas against innocent civilians".There will also be a discussion on Israeli attacks on innocent civilians, don't you think?

Where was Goldstone and the UN? The only reason there is some sembalance of peace along the Gaza border was Cast Lead and the IDF.

What you would have wanted was that our kids would "differentiate" between Hamas "fighters" shooting at us from among their population and the the non-fighters near them, right? And kill only the shooters...precisely...without touching anyone else... No. I am sorry. You wouldn't want that. No war! Just continue to let the rockets fall on Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba and Gedera and wait for more...

... so Obama is deposed in one fell swoop for an independent stance that seems to please nobody...

"The one and only convincing argument is:-Kelly said it was important for the world to remain focused on trying to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks" (Esther) NO! All US arguments are convincing! I regret to see that you are slowly becoming anti-Israeli and anti-IDF. That's how the above looks like...

The fact that 8 years of rockets failed to kill Jewish civilians was due to bomb shelters, in which chioldren spent much of their lives. Hamas aimed to kill civilians. IDF aimed to stop the rockets and apparently succeeded. A telling point is that Goldstone slept while Sderot's citizens were telling about the effects of the rockets on their lives. I recall the story of the kapos in the death camps and the Jewish council in the Warsaw ghetto. Perhaps Goldstone was taking them as his model.

Or that Israel is not extremist and the "Judge" is not realy a "Liberal". A Simple scenario, Obama just sees that Israel is the good guy in this bussines

The shackles of sycophancy to Israel's Settlements Enterprise, in behalf of which Cast Lead was perpetrated by Israel, have not been thrown off by America. America continues down the path of frustrating international justice brought to bear against an international outlaw, the State of Israel. Those in the US Government, who pander to and abet Israel in crime are guilty of crime against their own country, and of crime against humanity.

It's absurd to have expected that the US would have done a 180 and reacted any differently, especially in light of having supplied the illegal weapons used by Israel and of its own actions that are as bad if not worse in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US critized the report for not having gone into chapter and verse about the criminal acts by Hamas but it did not question the validity of the those committed by Israel, so it essentially accepted them. All this brouhaha against the report has diluted the important statement about Hamas having also committed criminal acts against civilians and that its leaders are also subject to criminal prosecution. It is hoped that both parties will now think twice before repeating them.

together with their cell phones asnd many other modern facilities ! the big mouths posting here do not take the hint !!!

I am all for disproportionare response. That is how war is won. Good for Israel for defending its people. The only reason Hamas did not drop a nuclear bomb on Sderot is because they did not have one. Israel, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Perhaps de report is not totally fair to Israel, but for the first time something is a little bit fair to the Palestinians.

liberal democracies to this collective blood libel placed on Israel by the "Human Rights Council" that found Israel guilty of war crimes and crimes against humnity even before it sent this fig-leafe committee to "investigate"/re-write accusations against Israel placed originally by anti-Israel NGOs. As a human being, as a member of humanity international, I expect all liberal democratic countries to condemn this Goldstone report and in so doing put it in the right context of a clash of civilization whereby one does all to annihilate the other and Israel, being a liberal democratic state and society, is on the forefront trying to protect itself from this wave and with it, the concept of liberal democracy.

Goldstone served the whites interests in apartheid SA . He did not fight the system,in a way that endangered himself or his family ,his criticim was always measured . His personal history shows he has always hated Israel . The wrong man for the job .

I don't know whether he is a self hating Jew but I do know that judges don't speak publically about their decisions, and he has, and I do know that judges should not speak with their families about what happened behind closed doors with their panels. His daughter states that he told her that he reigned in the others. You know, that he was a hero and that Israel should be grateful. So, I don't know what kind of a Jew he is but I do know that he has loose lips, that he appears to be guilty of non-judicial behaviour and that does suggest that his judgement is wanting.

Latest in a truly lousy tradition.

The price of Bibi's game is that instead of getting a high profile instant denouncement of the report, Israel got a late Friday night press dump from a virtual nobody. That is how stories that the US gov't want to bury get released. Late on a Friday by a nobody so it never gets any press. Come the Monday news cycle, this will be forgotten. If anyone thinks this is a victory for Israel to get this Friday dump, you are kidding yourself. Bibi's bumbling is costing Israel greatly.

is that they deliberately failed to see that the rules of war have totally changed. civillians have been involved in every conflict since ww2 and with todays civillian militants there is no way to distinguish between combatants and non combatants ! that proscribed terrorist organisations cannot be equated with sovereign entities in conflicts !

.....the report reeks of one sidedness.... One only has to read the" heartfelt" appreciation expressed for the people of gaza to understand the agenda. How on earth can the UNCHR ever be taken seriously again? How can judge goldstone ever honestly restore his integrity again? I though south Africans were about reconciliation, not retribution. How will the ME crisis ever be resolved with this kind of attitude? And who are the 'Palestinian Israelis' the report keeps referring to? Is this just lack of knowledge or something more sinister? Wow...Israel is right, the UN cannot be trusted. I do not see how Richard Goldstone can ever redeem himself as a supporter of Israel. I would revoke his right of return

....should side with an extremist Israeli governement against a liberal South-African with an excellent reputation...??? Only 2 possible explanations: Either Barack Obama is not a liberal, or for whatever reasons, he could not do as he would (have liked to).... Make your choice...:)

Both she and her father have close relationships with Israel but he approached the writing of the report with the idea of trying to foment a lasting and just peace for all. See her words below. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1115017.html

Well Obama's even-handedness didn't last forlong, did it. He's right back in the Isreali camp.

The US starved Iraqis for 12 years, killed over 1.3 million people and literally occupied the place for all those years in breach of international law and then the US blasted Iraq off the map for no reason. OF course they don't want Israel charged with doing the same thing.

Oh, look at the Emperor's lovely clothes! Of course he is wearing clothes, if you can't see them, then you are a fool!

to # 7, for a true American u sure write English as if you were taught in some south pole university, isn't that right benjamin ooops i mean true American. John well said, the best post i ever read.

There is a small kernel of change. The Bush Administration would have shrugged off the deaths of the Palestinian children in Gaza and when asked if enough had died, have said, "maybe, maybe not." At the least the Obama Administration said, "We note in particular that Israel has the democratic institutions to investigate and prosecute abuses, and we encourage it to use those institutions." The Bush never in anyone's wildest dreams have encouraged Israel to investigate and prosecute anything or anybody. It is also still encouraging to note that Mitchell and Obama haven't caved in to Netanyahu's rejection of peace, nor have they acquiesced to a Napoleonic peace.

On one side you have a slow to react people with a highly trained and well equipped regular army. On the other side you have people controlled by a lunatic mob claiming to defend their land shooting rockets indiscriminantly, being fed by world charity out of pity, and having a rather easy life considering everything. How can you even compare these two sides of the conflict? How can you demand symmetry in responsibility? The ratio of victims explains it partially. But the difference between a democratic government and an illegitimate adolescent hissyfit will not be clouded by fringe Leftists. People know better than that.

1.Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and everything else will fall into place. 2.Without a King, there can be no Kingdom. Until the Messiah arrives, The Devil or Antichrist is the absolute dictator of Jerusalem, our hearts, our minds and our lives. 3.Until the path to the one true God is found, Satan will continue to dictate, design and build destructive and divisive recipes, weapons, formulas, initiatives, dialogues, agreements and settlements. The illusive dajjal should be indentified, dismantled and destroyed but by whom and with what? 4.The divine, biblical, foretold formula is Five loaves and Two Fish from a small boy, not from superstar leaders, no matter how pure, holy, pious, smart, eloquent or intelligent. 5.Five Loaves should never be taken literally. These Apocalyptic loaves effectively catch Two Big Fish: The Antichrist and Jesus Christ, whose symbols is FISH. 6.Eid Mubarak, Rosh Hoshanah 5770 and Happy Feast of Trumphets.

It's the people of the free and democratic world that have the last word on Israel and it's war crimes, and they have chosen in their droves to boycott any Israeli produce, regardless of the actions of their spineless governments!

He was predicting 2 days ago that Obama would be sending the whole shebang straight to the Hague. We need his guidance at this confusing time.

....side with an extremist Israeli governement and not with a liberal South African with an excellent reputation....???? Why would he do so, if he could as he would (like to)...???? Mhhhh........

Is this why Hamas insisted in persevering in firing rocket after rocket into Israel after repeatedly being warned that these actions would bring retaliation? Is this why Hamas was willing to sacrifice 1300 Gazan lives? Just so they could have the satisfaction of having a bunch of irrelevant idiots at the UN publish a meaningless report that blames Israel? Was it really worth it?

I was quite shocked but not surprised that the Obama White House reacted in this manner. Even George Bush couldn't have defended better Israel's horrendous behavior in the Gaza War. I was hoping that at least once - just once - Obama would do what is right and what is moral. But I was mistaken. I shudder to think of how the Rev. Martin Luther King would have reacted, had he been alive and had he heard the words from the White House. I am more than disappointed, and I can not quite describe how I am feeling right now because words fail me.

On one side you have an aggressor and illegal occupier, a highly trained and well equipped regular army. On the other side you have people who are under illegal occupation, defending their land and their families, people who are not only forbidden to organize a regular army but also denied basic right to self-determination, people kept under economical blockade and political seige. How can you even compare these two sides of the conflict? How can you demand symmetry in responsibility? The ratio of victims explains it partially. But the difference between an illegal occupier and a legitimate resistance will not be clouded by the in-fact pro-Zionist State Department. People know better than that.

I am surprised that no such charge has been leveled against the good man... or any other derogatory remarks for that matter...

Obama, having arrived in the Whitehouse on the coat tails of the US media who made him their darling but 18 months before, tells us the ONLY information we need to know... The 'Obama administration' with Emmanuel, Axelrod, Clinton and her similarly based team in close attendance is going to go straight for the jugular...in a new all-out gloves off offensive. Far from standing firm against Netanyahu he shall hand over M.E. policy completely to 'Clinton and Co' in which case of course, it won't be Clinton at all who shall be directing policy... On Obama's watch we are going to see a huge burst in un-restricted Zionist settler activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as Obama is the man upon whom finally they are investing their energies to realise the Zionist dream. Sit back and enjoy the show... Obama first losing all credibility and then effective control.

Remember that we used white phosphorus first and whatever Israel did we did it first. We don't dare condemn other.

He sees through the hypocrisy and lies of the UN vis-a-vis Israel and understands what we are up against. Thank you then to Australia in addition to America. I've actually met a number of Australians, and my impression is that your views of Israel are not typical for Australians. Rather, it seems that the Prime Minister of your country reflects the general sentiment of the population there. So, thank you Australia as well!

In the end, America is a real friend. I voted for Netanyahu, and I do think that Obama is driving Israel a little bit crazy with this settlement freeze (since I think that the settlements are not at the root of the conflict). Nevertheless, I think that Obama is a good man who is making an honest effort to bring about an Arab-Israeli peace, and so I think we should accommodate him as much as possible. With the rest of the world breathing down our necks, America is the only country that has our back. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

The end of the Obama era in the middleeast peace process. Now the whole middleeast knows that the Obama administration will not be an honest broker in the peace process. Its just another 4 years of negotiation moving faster than expected to the same shelve of israeli one way and only my way of peace negotiations

Isn't looking the other way or using the others do it too excuse what caused the world to look away during WWII? Isn't that why Israel barred reporters? So there would be no witnesses?

Israel broke the ceasefire on November 5th with a raid in Gaza which killed 5 Hamas members. Apart from that Israel never did anything else to maintain the ceasefire, humanitarian aid dipped sharply since Hamas was basically ousted in a coup de-tat in 2006. The idiots on this forum that believe Israel are the good "guys" only believe that because their "Jewish" and biased or that Israel is a supposedly good ally to the US (which it is not)

I see many arguments about how Israel is getting "picked on". They ask; Why dont you look at the war criminals in Darfur, Rawamda, Tibet and the Congo? Welcome to your new standings in the world right next to Sudan and the Congo. Citizens of Israel should be proud.

you're in complete agreement with the Goldstone? It's because you know your grandchildren in the IDF and know what crimes they're capable of . No? It's all the others ,your grandchildren raised by you on Marx and Koran are pure kerubins.

The Obama administration is making the same mistake in not condemning Israeli crimes against humanity as it made in ignoring Bush regime war crimes. Obama has once again resorted to the morally bankrupt excuse of "looking to the future," and by implication ignoring the past. The Gazan victims of IDF crimes deserve justice, and the US has no business impeding the process.

We all look forward to the day the UK accepts its own responsibility for war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan - not to mention the Falklands and Northern Ireland. Use of drones purposely targeting thousands of civilians and admitted to by the UK, the US and NATO is not only an abomination, but a crime against humanity and a war crime. You will of course agree that fair is fair, right Ahmed? Oops I mean John.

Change you can believe in? Still disappointing.

Israel killed 100 times as many Palestinians as vice versa, so it would be amazing the the overwhelming focus were not on Israel. Which imbecile thought up this response from the US?

The US government has the same view on Israel as the Australian Government, namely that Israel has never done anything worthy of condemnation... ever. Obama believes Hamas rockets (which injure or kill almost nobody) are deplorable, while Israel's pogroms against the Palestinians are self-defense. Our Prime Minister believes the same thing.

"We note in particular that Israel has the democratic institutions to investigate and prosecute abuses, and we encourage it to use those institutions," Indeed. Any criticism by Israel of the Goldstone inquiry can be met with exactly that retort: If you don't like it then set up your *own* independent inquiry. Goldstone. Is. Urging. You. To. Do. That.

Heaven forbid the Obama administration show any backbone or leadership when it comes to accountability for the actions of Israel. No, the report couldn't have been proportional, even if Israel killed 100 times more palestinians, and destroyed 20 000 buildings. The more Israel hides behind the curtain of US stonewalling (based on corrupt backroom dealings of AIPAC and others), the less legitimacy it has in the world. If you're going to launch an aggresive, spiteful, vendictive war of collective punishment against a captive population, at least have the courage and decensy to admit it. But those are two words that are lost in the current language of Israeli war mongers.

"Kelly said it was important for the world to remain focused on trying to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks" Yes, at this stage-in-the-game, that takes precedence...