UN Human Rights Council Passes Report On Gaza War Crimes

The United Nations Human Rights Council today passed a report  that finds that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the Israeli invasion last December.

Twenty-five members voted in favor of the resolution that singled out Israel for refusing to cooperate with the UN mission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone.  The United States voted no.

This is a significant blow to the Netanyahu government.  It has attacked both the Goldstone report and Goldstone himself with unusual virulence, even threatening to terminate the peace process if the resolution passes.

Its approach - and that of the United States (which has stood with Israel on the war crimes issue) - falls into the "shoot the messenger" category.  Some 1,400 Palestinians (including 320 children) were killed in Gaza while only nine Israeli soldiers died (three by friendly fire). Israeli soldiers themselves testified that they were ordered to keep Israeli casualties down at all costs, which they interpreted as meaning that they did not have to take care to avoid civilian casualties.  The Goldstone report says that they didn't.

Israel needs to investigate its army's behavior itself.  The UN vote demonstrates that it can no longer operate in the Palestinian areas with impunity.  As the old phrase goes, "the whole world is watching."

Unfortunately, the United States has chosen not to.