The report contains findings of the Goldstone commission’s fact-finding mission to probe Israel’s 3-week counter terrorism war against the Hamas rulers of Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.
The Congress voted unanimously for the bill, which passed Tuesday. It calls on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to prevent the U.N. Human Rights Council from accusing Israel of committing war crimes by making changes to the current structure of the Council. Such a move would prevent the Council from using the Goldstone Report to cause further damage to the Jewish State in the international arena.
Recently the author of the report, retired South African Judge Richard Goldstone admitted in an op-ed piece that his conclusions had been seriously mistaken. He wrote that had he known at the time what he knows today, he would not have accused Israel of deliberately targeting Gaza civilians.
The report accused Israel of committing possible war crimes and barely mentioned the role of Hamas in targeting Israel’s civilians with constant rocket and mortar attacks.
PLO Denounces US Congress
The Palestine Liberation Organization announced in a news release that it considered the U.S. position to be an encouragement to Israel’s settlement policy.
As such, the PLO said bill legitimized Israeli killing of Palestinian Authority civilians under U.S. cover, according to the WAFA news agency.
The PLO called on U.S. President Barack Obama not to approve the bill due to its pro-Israel nature, which it claimed was in violation of international law. The PLO also demanded international protection for PA Arab civilians.
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