Rudd Government holds judgement on UN report
THE Australian Government has reserved judgement on the Goldstone Commission Report into the war in Gaza, despite condemnation of the report's findings around the world.
NAOMI LEVIN
THE Australian Government has reserved judgement on the Goldstone Commission Report into the war in Gaza, despite condemnation of the report’s findings around the world.
The report, released last week, accuses the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Israeli government of committing war crimes during the war against Hamas earlier this year.
Israel refused to cooperate with the commission after Cuba, Egypt and Pakistan drafted the United Nations resolution to investigate “grave violations of human rights” in the “occupied Palestinian Territories”.
Israel’s fears of bias were confirmed with the report’s release, which took a very heavy hand to IDF actions.
A spokesperson from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade this week told The AJN “the report includes a number of conclusions and recommendations and the government is examining these carefully”.
She indicated the Rudd Government supports a “proper investigation” of any violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.
“We would like to underline again the importance of thorough investigations,” she said. “It is important that these matters are dealt with seriously and carefully.”
One of the Goldstone commission members, Hina Jillani, a Pakistani human rights lawyer, was in Sydney last week on a speaking tour.
She told ABC Radio’s PM program she believed the report was even-handed.
“Of course it is even-handed,” she said. “We had no interest in not being even-handed.”
She reiterated the report’s findings that the IDF had deliberately killed civilians in Gaza.
“In factual terms we have pointed out incidents where our findings are very clear that these have been deliberate killings.”
But Philip Chester, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, followed the Knesset’s footsteps in slamming the report.
“There were a number of serious omissions from the report,” Chester said. “The fact that Operation Cast Lead was a defensive war was not given due acknowledgment. None of the members of the commission visited places in Israel that had been the subject of repeated rocket attacks from Gaza.”
He added that the report ignored Israel’s “unparalleled efforts” to warn the citizens of Gaza of military attack by dropping leaflets.
“The expectation of the authors of the report that it will advance the cause of peace in the Middle East is beyond comprehension,” Chester said. “It is in fact set to divide and lead to further rancour in the troubled region.”
Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby also commented on the report in Parliament last week.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched a website in response to the Goldstone Commission Report, www.mfa.gov.il/gazafacts.
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