<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Gaza families shocked after Goldstone&nbsp;retraction]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>[ 					05/04/2011 &#8211; 09:51 AM ]<br />
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<p>GAZA, (PIC)&#8211; Families of some of the  casualties laid to rest during the 2008-9 Israeli war on Gaza expressed  shock over recent statements by Judge Richard Goldstone that he  retracted his opinion that Israel had committed crimes during  aggression.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Goldstone headed a UN Human Rights Council  fact-finding mission which submitted a report to the UN condemning  Israel for targeting civilians and other human rights violations during  the war. But he has recently rescinded the conclusion made in the report  in an article in the Washington Post saying that if he knew then what  he knows now, the report would have varied.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Meanwhile, casualty families in Gaza said  they were disappointed after the so-called Goldstone report had for the  last two years been tantamount to boost of morale for the possibility  that Israeli occupation leaders would be tried and taken to justice.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Some of those families gave brief  statements in interviews conducted by Hamas&#8217;s media bureau in northern  Gaza Strip on Monday. They said Goldstone&#8217;s retraction has been  tantamount to a ”shock” to international human rights organizations  which tried to show some equity to the Palestinians through the report.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Mohammed Abu Askar, who lost two children  and a brother during the aggression and who himself was one of the  witnesses in the report, said that ever since the report was issued he  felt a sense of justice, even though he commented that the report had  actually equated between the ”victim and the executioner”.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">”We believe the retraction came after pressure or extortion. But this is not an excuse to retract the report,” he said.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">He emphasized that those who sustained  damages in the war will continue to demand that Israel is brought to  justice in the International Criminal Court and that the Goldstone  report remains a tool for human rights groups, as it is based on  verified testimonies and accounts of victimized families.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Muteea al-Selawi, who lost seven members  of his family in the war, said that he has lost hope that international  rights organizations would side with justice, as they have had a long  track record of siding with Israel.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Subhi Semmouni said Goldstone&#8217;s retraction  was a ”setback” for victims&#8217; families, as the report had given hope  that those who massacred children and women would be tried before courts  of law. Semmouni had lost 20 family members in the war.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">”The move gives Israel justification to  repeat its massacres against the Palestinians,” said one Palestinian man  Faraj Abdo Rabbo.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">”We have lost trust in the world and all  human rights centers, who did nothing to bring justice to the  Palestinians or bring even one Israeli to the Israeli courts.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s770S9p8aQRVEEf%2bru0nUyBgfYLU91De5%2bls2oTeh8e016ZmLcTF7qO8S7laIbjA6GRwMrJWgqleMcpqxeY8iNRxwUa2Zp5K44oN4mng%2bBVbM%3d">Source</a></p>
<p><strong>SPECIAL TOPIC : <a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/israels-next-whitewash-of-another-zionist-massacre/">WHITE WASH WATCH | Goldstone’s Reconciderations on the Gaza Cast Lead Report</a></strong></p>
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