UN likely to endorse Goldstone Gaza report, despite Israeli efforts

When someone invades your property you fight back no matter how. This applies to anyone and everywhere. Hamas used to fire rockets at settlements that are built in Palestinian land (I can tell how much you hate this word?Mr. Pal). I don?t see any difference between the Hamas attacks and the Israeli attacks. Both target civilians. You can easily find some of the facts. You can find it on youtube. many Israeli solders confessing about their crimes against Palestinians. I can tell you that I was a human shield once for Israeli soldiers. A group of soldiers were trying to arrest a guy and they used me to enter the building. I was in the front so if any shot was fired it will hit me. Israel thinks that Palestinians will forget that there land was stolen from them. There are over 6 million Palestinians refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries. What Israel doesn?t understand is that these refugees are increasing in numbers and they didn?t and won't forget their homeland. I am friend with many refugees from Jordan who live in the US. These guys never been to Palestine and their dream is to go back one day. I am originally from Jerusalem and lived there and can tell you many stories about the aggression I used to face daily from the Israeli Soldiers. No one with dignity will handle what Palestinians go through daily. I inherited land from my father. A land that he inherited from his father and this goes on and on and on. And let me guarantee you, the only Jews who inherited land are the original Palestinian Jews who represented 7% of the population prior to 1948 all the rest of the land was confiscated from Palestinians.

Better late than never!

Gazans dont have a right to defend themselves? The rockets may have been useless, but bombs on the Lebanon were useless as well. Wasnt this war in Lebanon a war of self-defense as well? Israel did not believe the world and tried it a second time, there will be no third time or Israel will be wiped of the map by its former friends.

It says in the final days all countries will be against Israel. This is coming to pass. And anyway despite that, who cares what the UN says, every thinking person knows that it's an automatic anti-Israel body with its arab and african majority in the general assembly. Europe is just scared of the muslims in its midst. Have any of you pro-hamas people even looked past the one line free palestine trendy slogans to actually see how they treat their OWN people. Ever watched pal tv? Seen how they teach their children? It's a disgrace and the fact that unthiking lefties automatically support this behaviour is absolutely appalling, you should be ashamed. It is you not Israel that is keeping the Pal people in chains. If you truely loved them as you all say you do you'd be trying to see Hamas destroyed not Israel.

Israel has had some brilliant Foreign Ministers such as Mr.Abba Eben. Israel has quite a number of career diplomats who now find themselves in a vicious circle whereby they cannot even comprehend the sudden changes. However, with reference to your comments vis a vis FM Lieberman, one must also take into account the dramatic "cold shoulder effect" possibly more so now that the gracious president has received his prize in Oslo. The UN will vote against Israel, none will vote in favor, at best some allies will abstain. I wonder how the US plans to avoid a Goldstone Report on Iraq,Afghanistan,Pakistan,Vietnam or Panama. Maybe even the FARC will contact the good judge. Shabat Shalom.

Why Israel is so nervous if they have nothing to hide??????????????????

No one will mind seeing it go after Gaza...

for once again we are alone .not because we are evil ,but because politics have nothing to do with justice. each country decides according to its interests. in this difficult moment we have to be united and stand by israel. we have to be strong and work for the future of our children ,israel is our hope , our security , our destiny.

When the US starts supporting the government of the Sudan and providing it with three billion dollars a year in military assistance, I'll start waiting for the report too. Ever occur to you how telling it is that all the possible defenses of Israel's conduct are so feeble?

'Infrastructure...' What an evasion! One wasn't a war, but a pogrom, and neither was 'against civilian infrastructure,' but against the civilians themselves. Let's face facts. The IDF bombed Red Cross-organized refugee convoys, herded civilians into buildings and then shelled them, shot down women and children holding white flags at point-blank range, etc. The overwhelming majority of their victims are invariably innocent bystanders -- deliberately targeted innocent bystanders. They routinely shoot reporters, deliberately kill children and old people, execute prisoners, and generally behave in a manner completely incompatible with any notion of civilization or morality. I know you don't like getting your posts blocked, but let's call a spade a spade here. To do otherwise is to become complicit in Israel's fantasy that she is somehow a moral, just state.

on the 60th anniversary of the terrorist attck on the King David hotel where British citizens were murdered. He then has the pure chutzpah to then ring the United Kingdom asking for their help. I am sorry it doesn't work like that. I am surprised at the support the United States are giving him as well. Bearing in mind in a television interview on American television he stated clearly that the attacks on 9/11 were a good thing for Israel. Seems Netanyahu thinks there is good terrorisnm and bad terrorism depending on his point of view.

The only fact about the UN is that it is a United Nations against Israel. Why take notice of it when it was always against Israel.

unarmed Yeshiva students then dancing in the streets Of course it's legal otherwise they would have protested investgated reported etc,along with the hypocrites who come here claiming they protect civillians as soon Israel RETALIATES

It's ignored every UN Resolution against it. What's the difference with this one? Just tally another one in the record books.

....because there is absolutely no mentioning of Hamas' "sins" in it, but they don't have a majority at the UN Human rights council. And that doesn't mean at all, that they would reject the Goldstone report, they simply wanted to see both "sinners" mentioned in the resolution.....

Israel claims that the report was an obstacle to the peace precess!!! Are you kidding me?? I am looking for Mr. peace since 1948, and I have not seen him. If Israel suffers internationaly the same way as South Africa, then I am sure Mr peace would visit us. Also, Mr Netanyahu is asking every leader to change his opinion and support Isael. At the same time, Israel is defying every one and violating the international law over and over again. How dare you??

World opinion is shifting and Israel is losing the support of its traditional allies especially in Western Europe . Political leaders can no longer justify its endorsement of Israeli brutalities amidst domestic and international outrage. Truth be told , Israel has now lost the hearts and minds of even its staunchest allies. Netanyahu and Lieberman have no credibility and to have them negotiate with the likes of Brown and other leaders in order to block the acceptance of the Goldstone report is a futile exercise . Even the Americans are embarrassed by Israeli policy and Washington is not wielding the full extent of its diplomatic influence in order to assist Israel any longer. What is becoming evident is that the just like the Palestinian people paid the price for electing Hamas to power in Gaza , likewise all Israelis will be painted with the same brush for electing this extremist government into power.

For your knowledge, yes. All are /were war criminals, exactly as is Israel.The difference however, they were not land thieves, as the Israelis/Zionists are.

Maybe you might have more credence on here if you explained how Israeli restriction of Palestinian religious rights and settlements in occupied territory is not a violation of the fourth Geneva Convention!

You are unlikely to persuade an organization that believes the world is better off without Israel to be anything different than it is except that the UN will get worse. Good for Netanyahu to try but Israel should see the UN for what it is- an iniquitous organization of great evil.

The rules of international law governing the use of force by victims of aggression are embarrassingly unjust and would never be tolerated by any domestic criminal law system. They give the advantage to unlawful aggressors and thereby undermine international justice, security and stability. Article 51 of the U.N. Charter forbids all use of force except that for "self-defense if an armed attack occurs. Israel's raid on Uganda's Entebbe Airport in 1976?to rescue the victims of an airplane hijacking by Palestinian terrorists?was also illegal under Article 51. More at: http://xrl.us/bfq4r7

Add to all the above the Lebanese Civilians killed in Lebanon from more than 15 years of Israeli occupation and post occupation. Hey and Let this be a preventive measure for a future war against Iran.Israel should stop the campaign against Iran. The simple truth is no one can afford another war. we are broke.

Roger Cohen is not an nti-Semite. He is merely antisemitically correct, which is not the same, but is equal. And people like you, surf on its current fashinable "bon ton", with an hypocrisiy of absolutely no transcendence.

great leaders do not act for reasons of revenge. obama is obviously not a great leader.

the un is controlled by arab-muslim states. all of these states are anti-israel and anti-western. as long as the west continues to depend on fossil fuels this situation will continue. the arabs will continue to blackmail all western democracies.

And what makes you think that the West Banka dn Gaza are yours? They are occupied by a brutal army, illegally. Your propaganda no longer works

You really don't know anything about what's going about the relation between kurds and turks.We saved kurd's ass from Saddam despotism in 1990's.I advice you search more!

Nobody asked Goldstone to do that or offered to fund it. Maybe if Israel asked hi, and offered to fund the inquiries, Goldstone would make the effort. The UN asked him to look into Gaza and funded his looksee.

To admit contrition is not capitulation, but a sign of strength.

If you have to convince anyone, it means you and they know the report is right.

I am reminded of the " Zionism is Racism " resolution of some years ago ...Are we going backward in time , to those days ?

destroy half of Gaza by bombs and white Phosphorus and then claim that you were only defending yourself. Israel committed real war crimes. It has to pay for that and the price must be painful. Othewise, humanity will revert to the law of the Jungle.

When we left Gaza the idea was that Israel will be able to defend itself if attacked. Looks like goldy does not approve this. Fine. Now we dont have to leave the West Bank. If we left the west bank and rockets fell on Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport it would be a war crime to defend ourselves. Lets spare the world from more `war crimes`. We will just stay in the West Bank. Thank you UN.

The problem is that the Goldstone Report is the tip of the anti-Semitic jihad spear aimed directly at annulling Israel's rights under international law to protect its citizens. Its sponsors, its author, and its present-day UN advocates have no intention of focusing on Hamas or of even glancing at the many fundamental issues of fact and law raised by the Report's unsubstantiated assertions. Bibi had better "wake up and smell the coffee".

Israel could have avoided this by doing their own thorough investigation and then cooperating with Goldstone. Instead Netanyahu, Lieberman and Barak chose to rely on public relations spin rather than facts. They truly lack the vision and leadership Israel needs. I believe Goldstone has the facts correctly. I believe the world sees through the facade that Israeli leaders have created. It is time for accountability.

for once... The world will be so shocked you'll probably find people will respond to signs that Israel actually has a conscience. Nah! Never happen.

If dropping bombs in civilian areas is a war crime as the Gaza Report states, then the US and UK are just as guilty of committing war crimes in Afganistan. After all, they had dropped bombs in civilian areas to kill Taliban terrorists even though they knew non-combatant civilians were likely in the area and would be killed as well. I guess FDR and Churchill were war criminals as well using Goldstone's logic. It is a disgrace that the NATO countries like the UK are refusing to denounce the report.

Nobody saw that coming!

proposed such a vote. This is the UN. This is the UN agencies.

Given the will the US can cause the UK to sway, then presumably the ducks will follow. But do they (Obama) have the will? Israel embarrased the US by making a fool of Obama over the settlements issue. Certainly unwise, the evidence of such may emerge sooner rather than later.

... now that the UN endorses Hamas' tactics. Israel also is not allowed to defend itself. A world gone mad. Good is evil and evil is good.

It's time for an open discussion to take place. Judge Goldstone did a great job in tough circumstances. I would have loved that my government participated. Still Mr. PM, you have an opportunity to put your facts on the table. No need to try to "convince" others to vote against the report blindly. Stand up and be counted. Bottom line: The world demands that this report be discussed. Now that Palestinian pressure forced Mr. Abbas to open the report for discussion, we will start the critical process of truth, reconciliation, healing, and forgiveness. This will lead to peace. Peace NOW!

can you show me welfare smart missles and bombs that manage to kill so many babys in gaa and lebanon? thanks

No doubt, this will be followed by posts claiming that Roger Cohen is an anti-Semite, but that is not true. "Cut the posturing and deal with reality. This can be painful ? as with Justice Richard Goldstone?s recent U.N. report finding that both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants committed possible crimes against humanity during Israel?s military operations in Gaza." - Roger Cohen

There is only one way out for Israel. It will destroy some politicians, active and retired. It will set in motion forces which will lead to the end of occupation. It is, the ONLY way for Israel to redeem it's honor. A complete, open and honest investigation of the origins, planning, execution and consequences of Cast Lead. Haaretz has published articles which show that at least a month before the cease fire was terminated Israel had planned to kick-off Cast Lead when the police academy in Gaza was graduated. That fact alone shows the Israeli government's version of 'the facts' is a lie. And the only way for israel to overcome that lie is to expose it. Israel may save itself, but at the expense of many important politicians. An honest and transparent investigation will hurt. But not as much as failing to conducting one.

Israel could have cooperated, unless it had something to hide. Israel chose not to cooperate. The attacks upon Goldstone for failing to mention Sderot were lies, indeed, it was Israel that prevented Goldstone from interviewing citizens of Sderot. Israel's only response to the report has been a systematic campaign of misrepresentation, lies, and slander. It has refused to conduct an open and honest investigation. Israel has a long tradition of open and honest investigations. For some reason the last two Prime Minsters have operated with the arrogance that patterns of destruction and civilian/terrorist casualty ratios could be hidden. They have acted with total arrogance. Arrogance which has badly harmed Israel's reputation and unnecessarily bolstered that of the Palestinians. Did PM Olmert really think targeting the UN and it's facilities in Gaza would go unnoticed? Does Netanyahu think he can make those attacks disappear by lying about them?

Ari Shavit wrote a brilliant article yesterday, tuesday, Oct. 14, 2009, "Israel need legitimacy to wage war and peace". In it, he lucidly says the delegtimization campaign launched against Israel started approximately with the second intifada, in 2000. Israel has failed miserably to counter that global campaign. World Jewry has failed too. Maybe this painful setback at the UN, is the wake up call for a country that believes it can put Lieberman as its top diplomat, while it is the most bashed country on earth. the assymetry is so obvious. Israel needs to learn that image counts, and excell in it just like Arab propagandists excell in it.

I fail to understand what is so scary to the Israeli government about doing an open and transparent investigation of its own actions, nothing more. The reaction is like Ann Coulter blaming the widows of 9-11 for wanting to know why their husbands died and what went wrong. Are you afraid you may find out your army is human and not composed of pure as driven snow Galahads? Is any commission of Israelis going to be antisemitic? Will an Israeli commission of inquiry be predisposed to throw the current government under the bus? Are you afraid of Jews or just openness and transparency?

Do European countries want to sacrifice Israel in order to save the skin of one Palestinian-Abbas?

Israel doesn't need the US, or so we've been hearing for so long. What right does the US have to try and influence Israeli policy? For better or worse, the US is pretty much the only country in the World trying to defend Israel. If the report is not adopted, it will be because the US again disrupted efforts to enforce international law to help our "ally." I disagree, but our democracy changes slowly on major issues. But the Zionists refuse to listen to even the US, resenting all efforts to influence them. They're always right, Everybody else is wrong. For 40 years, the US has opposed the occupation and settlement. We have tried to influence Israel to understand that, in 1967, international law did not allow the taking of land by war. Period. While the US may protect Israel now, the Goldstone Report is having a major effect, muted for now by alliance and geopolitics. But this may be Israel's last best chance to reform.

The solution is simple. Do your own biased report and rebuke all the allegations.

Two lost wars, and two wars which have embarrassed Israel. The Second Lebanon War. The IAF spent much effort in destroying highway bridges and gas stations while Hisbollah attack Northern Israel. The IAF spent plenty of time attacking packing plants and dairy farms. . . And rockets still fell upon Israel. In the most inept operation ever mounted by Israel commandos grabbed a grocer and his sons. . . and rockets still fell on Israel. FINALLY, the IDF did what needed to be done from day one and pushed into Lebanon far enough to stop some - but not all rockets. In Cast Lead the IDF targeted water plants, sewage plants, schools, UN warehouses grocery warehouses and shelters. And any terrorists who stood and fought. Hamas was bright enough to fall back avoiding destruction. Islamic Jihad was foolish enough offer itself for destruction. In the end, Israel had destroyed much civilian infrastructure, some of Islamic Jihad and very little of Hamas. Israel has become it's worst enemy.

"We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq." So all those people killed "benefited" Israel? He also attended the 60th anniversary celebrations of the terrorist attacks against the King David Hotel. For such a strong supporter of terrorism it will be hard for him to build any real international support.

Israel has become a different nation over the last 40 years. That often makes it hard for people who like Israel to support it. One has to be pretty mindless to have not noticed the changed in behavior between past wars and The Second Lebanon War or Cast Lead. Israel used to go for the jugular, it was determined to destroy the enemy forces and would rather minimize civilian casualties. In it's last wars, Israel chose the exact opposite. The last objective was enemy forces and the primary objectives was civilian infrastructure. In neither case did Israel seek to maximize civilian casualties, but in both cases it often did little to avoid them. This is an immense change in the nation's attitude towards the morals of war. What 'morals' in war. Yes, morals. If one may destroy enemy forces without harming civilians a moral person will. No moral person will bypass striking enemy forces to destroy civilian infrastructure. Israel has changed folks, and that is it's problem today.

I certainly hope that both Israel and Hamas will be equally prosecuted for the outrageous crimes outlined in Goldstone's report. Justice Goldstone is one of Israel's bright spots, and the country was certainly lucky -- in fact, it couldn't have been luckier -- to have him investigate.

Shameful. Accept the truth...you cant make it go away

upon itself. There is no one to blame but Israel. This is the price that so many of us have been saying for so long that Israel would pay if it continued doing what it has been doing. It has now come to pass. Israel will probably stand accused of war crimes at least, if not crimes against humanity from here on end.

for wasting valuable time on pressuring Britain when she should have been pressuring Israel to stop its settlements. No hope for peace as long as she is secretary of state.

All I can say to Mr. Netanyahu is "Eizeh Khutsbah".

the world saw most of what is in goldstone and know its true.....nice going livni, barak, olmert, and ashkenazi....soon to be wanted war criminals everywhere..told you not to do it

BRAVO! Accountability for War CRIMES/HUMAN Rights Abuses...MUST prevail!!! My Country's/WESTERN Powers'-- Handling of human rights issues/war crimes...has become INEXCUSABLE & deserves TOTAL CONTEMPT! It's UNCONSCIONABLE-- That "democracies"/supposed "beacons" of freedom, respect for human rights, rule of law, etc....seem to NEVER assume the roles/try hard enough to live up to our foundings/DECLARATIONS. Why Must OUR Leaders-- Be dragged to live up to what WE claim/to do what ultimately...SAVES &/or PROTECTS us ALL? ENOUGH!!! Gaza-- Was The RECKLESS, MASS murder/killing; the TOTAL disregard for the CIVILIAN population; EXCESSIVE use of force...& INTENTIONAL war crimes! Israel(is)-- Did what they did...WILLINGLY/INTENTIONALLY...to a people with NO army/NO weapons even close to theirs/NO weapons that could EVER do the same amount of damage/harm to people...to people who sought shelter in INTERNATIONALLY accepted "SAFE" places! ALL...are accountable!

I dont recall the UN stopping or condemning the daily rockets landing in Israel launched from Pals or that they were targeting civilians the entire time. The interesting thing is that the report does acknowledge Hamas using civilian locations during Cast Lead yet still blames Israel. Israel took incredible steps to avoid civilian injuries and deaths. Hamas put their people in the way of harm because they wanted a high injury and death toll. If this is what Israel gets for being "nice" then maybe next time they should just win. By the way before Obama, Hamas was a terror organization. Now the US has validated and promoted Hamas and the "pals cause". How did they go from terror group to humanitarian cause under a new administration and that has allowed the world to shape a new and awful position on Israel.

than israel, the americans know they won't win by supporting israel, to many countries will vote for the report, israel is running around franticaly trying to muster support for the disapproval, israel, if you think this is bad, wait until you start the enxt war, it's going to get worse and your going to have alot more enemies, but hey, you can take care of all of them with the 200+ nukes you have.