The Goldstone Report: Between Resolve and Secrets, and Turning to International Courts for Palestine

·      The continued perpetration of the horrific massacres committed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip, and in the West Bank, and Jerusalem, a war of extermination since 7 October 2023, in front of the whole world, and up to now, and what preceded them of brutal massacres... requires and it is incumbent upon every conscience-holder and able person to pursue everyone who caused these collective massacres in the Gaza Strip, by Israeli politicians and military personnel (commanders and executors).. by submitting a strong and sincere will to United Nations officials, international UN bodies, local and international church councils, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Red Crescent, to form investigation committees, because of the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity... in the Gaza Strip.. in addition to submitting individual complaints, in addition to official Palestinian, Arab, and international bodies.. and friends of Palestine everywhere on earth, and all civil society institutions throughout the world, to the courts of the complaining countries, when their national laws permit that.!

·      In this regard, the Goldstone Report (September 2009), which "broke the rod of obedience against the immunity of the strong", and which had been issued as a result of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip in 2008/2009 (23 days), can be a reference and evidence, that can be relied upon, and it is also considered a model to be emulated for investigative committees formed by the United Nations, and according to the highest standards.

●      Overview of the Goldstone Report 2009

●      The Goldstone Report in 2009.. is the report that responded to the attacks on Gaza, when urgent calls emerged at that time for a reaction by United Nations officials, including its Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressing concern about the Israeli assault in the period from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 (23 days), and calling for investigations regarding the Israeli military assault, including the commission of war crimes!

●      As a result, the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council convened, on 12-1-2009, a session by virtue of which a Commission of Inquiry into the Israeli war on Gaza was formed (which Israel called "Operation Cast Lead"), and Richard Goldstone (J.R. Goldstone) was chosen as chair...! .. He is a Jewish Zionist figure, who retains ties and ongoing relations with Israel, and is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, in addition to three other members..!

●     The formation of the commission came within the framework of the Human Rights Council decision in Geneva dated 12 January 2009, which condemned the Israeli assault on Gaza, and accused Israel of committing serious human rights violations in Gaza. This decision provided for the establishment of a fact-finding mission whose aim was "to investigate Israeli violations against the Palestinians". The decision was voted for by 33 Arab, African, Asian and Latin American countries, while 13 European countries abstained from voting, while Canada opposed the decision. Israel considered this decision biased against it and questioned the credibility of the council...!

● On 15 September, 2009, the Fact-Finding Mission published its report of 575 pages, titled “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories” and known in the media as the Goldstone Report, the international mission investigated 36 incidents for investigation, 188 interviews were conducted, and more than 300 reports, testimonies, and documents, amounting to more than 10,000 pages and 1,200 photographs, and more than 30 video tapes..... And the report concluded by indicating that both the Israeli forces and the Palestinian armed factions committed what could be considered war crimes. And according to the report, “they may be considered crimes against humanity.” The summary of the report consisted of seven pages, addressed Palestinian violations in only four paragraphs, and in the remainder addressed the violations attributed to Israel..!

·       Summary of the report's substance..

·       The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, wrote a lengthy article on 21-3-2010, commenting on the report of South African judge Richard Goldstone regarding the Israeli war on Gaza, stating that the Goldstone Report as an event attracted great attention in light of the 575-page report prepared by the fact-finding committee pursuant to the Human Rights Council decision of the United Nations on 12 January 2009.

·       The content of the report and the events it included were similar to the crimes of Adolf Eichmann described by Hannah Arendt as "the banality and triviality of evil," and the materials contained within it earned it worldwide attention, and at the same time made it the subject of controversy!

·      In fact, Israel continued to impose the siege, in cooperation with Egypt, knowing that the continuation of this heinous policy constitutes a gross violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits collective punishment, noting that the repercussions of the ongoing closure on the Gaza Strip since June 2007 have been described as amounting to slow genocide and crimes against humanity.!

·    The Goldstone Report struck at Israel's sensitive nerve and pained it,
for it tormented the Israeli government because of the possibility of bringing charges against military and civilian officials for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, as happened to Jews at the hands of the Nazis..! There was basis and justification to say that Israel's noncompliance with the Geneva Conventions and its violations thereof were not born of error.... but were a criminal act! This raised concern about indictments and condemnations against it, which could lead to the arrest of Israeli officials, military and civilian, and the filing of charges against them for violating international law, whether through an international mechanism or through measures taken unilaterally by states and governments, based on the authority of international justice!

·      The Goldstone Report recommends the formation of a mechanism in order to impose sanctions against perpetrators of war crimes when there is evidence. The report also contained some recommendations, including calling on Israel to review its rules of engagement, to protect the rights of Palestinians, not to demean their dignity, and not to discriminate against them in the future, in addition to the report's recommendations that Israel respect United Nations institutions and their staff, as well as demanding the release of Palestinians detained by Israel, and perhaps most importantly the recommendation to end the Israeli siege of Gaza immediately and to allow the free flow of goods and movement through the crossings in order to resume economic activity in the Gaza Strip.

●      International positions on the commission:

·       Israel rejected the Human Rights Council decision and considered it biased against it, even questioning the credibility of the council, and therefore; refused to cooperate with the commission; which prevented the commission from being able to conduct field investigations and to collect information, whether in Israel or the West Bank, despite the positive Palestinian stance, which showed positive cooperation with the commission, and Egypt opened the Rafah crossing for the commission to enter the Gaza Strip, while Jordan welcomed the commission to carry out the hearing of a number of testimonies.

·       Described Israeli Finance Minister Wofal Shtantz called Judge Goldstone “anti-Semitic of the type who hates a Jew who hates his own people.”^[ During a visit to Brazil, Israeli President Shimon Peres said that Richard Goldstone was “a small man who wants to inflict harm on Israel” and that he “knows nothing about human rights, and described the report as a mockery of history!!

·       Also Israeli Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein said in an interview with Voice of Israel radio that he told Ban Ki-moon that the Goldstone report and similar reports fuel anti-Semitism and form a basis for those who want to deny the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel!

·      In the United States, the US House of Representatives issued a resolution demanding that US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton use the powers of the US government to prevent adoption of the report and to block implementation of its recommendations, using the powers of the US government.

·       In this regard, the clearest example of Israel’s rejection of any UN decision that points an accusing or condemnatory finger at it is Israel’s refusal to comply with the International Court of Justice ruling dated 9/7/2004 regarding the construction of the Israeli separation wall inside the West Bank, which it described as illegal and which must be removed and dismantled!

·       In light of the opposition to opening criminal investigations under international standards, the report urges recourse to international justice, to examine violations of the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which prohibit states from granting immunity to those who violate the Geneva Conventions, as stated in the conclusion of the Goldstone report, where it calls on states to open criminal investigations in their national courts when there is clear evidence of egregious violations, under which suspects should be arrested and brought to trial in accordance with international justice and its standards,

·      Controversy over the Human Rights Council vote on the report

·       The Human Rights Council was scheduled to vote on adopting the Goldstone Commission report on 2 October, 2009. ....However, some sources hinted that the Palestinian National Authority intended to withdraw its government’s recognition of the Goldstone report, and these sources revealed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was subjected to “heavy pressure” by the caretaker Prime Minister, Dr. Salam Fayyad, aimed at pushing the Palestinian president to withdraw the Palestinian recognition of the report. The same source also said that President Mahmoud Abbas received two phone calls from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she invited him to withdraw Palestinian recognition of the report. According to the same source, Fayyad considered that agreeing to the report and working to promote it was a mistake, because “we cannot stand against America and Israel,” as the source quoted Dr. Fayyad. The New York Times reported Ibrahim Khreisha, the Palestinian UN ambassador, as saying “We do not want to put obstacles in their way” in reference to the Israelis, and the Palestinian ambassador said that postponing consideration of the resolution might allow the Palestinians and Israelis to reach another settlement !!

·       George Mitchell (the US Middle East peace envoy) also told the Palestinians on 2 October 2009 that “the Palestinian National Authority should assist in creating a positive atmosphere that leads to negotiations,” (which implies that the Palestinians should withdraw their request to vote on the report).

·       As a result of these great pressures, the vote on the report was postponed at the request of the Palestinian delegate in Geneva....to the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010.^[

·      Reactions to the postponement of the vote by the Palestinian delegate

·       The General Secretariat of the Arab League expressed its “disappointment” at the postponement of consideration of the report, and denied that Arab states had requested the postponement, affirming that it was the Palestinian National Authority that requested the postponement..!

·       The International Coalition to Prosecute War Criminals issued a statement that severely criticized the withdrawal of the Goldstone report from the UN Human Rights Council agenda, saying in the statement “No Palestinian official, regardless of his rank or status, has the right to stop, suspend, postpone, or obstruct any effort that was aimed at prosecuting any person, entity or state that committed crimes against the Palestinian people!”

Also condemnedAmnesty International the postponement of the vote to adopt the Goldstone Report, and the organization called on the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to refer the report to the Security Council immediately!

·       This was said by the Secretary of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Abed Rabbo, in an interview with Palestine TV that “the Palestinian leadership committed a mistake by withdrawing the Goldstone Report,” and he added: “We acknowledge this mistake, which can be corrected, and we are working on that.” He pointed out that the Palestinian Authority formed an investigation committee “that will present the results to the Palestinian people.”

·      This began on 4/11/2009, the discussion of the Goldstone Report in the United Nations General Assembly, and it endorsed the Goldstone Report by a majority of 114 votes in favor, 18 against, while 44 states abstained.

· Israel submitted to the United Nations, an initial 40-page response to the Goldstone Report, on 29 January, 2010, in which it affirmed that its army did not deliberately kill civilians in the Gaza war... noting that the United Nations did not content itself with this response! Moreover, Israel submitted its response to the Goldstone Report, dated 21 July2010, in which it said that the Israeli army had introduced changes to its combat doctrine, with the aim of avoiding harm to civilians and their property in the future.^] And it said that it would impose restrictions on the use of white phosphorus, and the response stated that every military unit, starting at the level of the combat battalions in these units, would be accompanied by an officer for humanitarian affairs!!

·       On 4/2/2010, Ban Ki-moon (the Secretary-General of the United Nations), after the expiration of the three-month period stipulated in the General Assembly resolution, submitted a report — of 72 pages — to the General Assembly, in which he said that the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority had investigated the conduct of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters, but he could not determine whether those investigations were credible!!

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·        In light of these delays and the controversy surrounding them, there was no determination by the Palestinians to cling to the report and follow it through to the end; interest in the Goldstone Report scattered after it was postponed to March 2010 from the date of 2 October 2009, for an additional six months, as a result of the great pressures on the Palestinians (as reported in the press)…and many secrets were revealed.... which led to a weakening of interest in it, and a reduction of its momentum...and therefore...it ended up on the shelves of the Human Rights Council.. after it had been a real threat to the punishment of Israel.!. Nevertheless, we must benefit from the standards on the basis of which the report was drafted, and we must avoid any pressures, whatever they may be... pressures!!