<?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 officials ask EU to step in after Goldstone&nbsp;comments]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img src='https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/61836_345x230.jpg' alt='' /><br />
April 5, 2011</p>
<p>GAZA CITY (Ma&#8217;an) &#8212; Over 100 Palestinian figures from Gaza Strip sent a  letter of protest to the EU Representative in Palestine, after  delegates voted against a move forward on the recommendations of the  Goldstone Report at the UN.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our Palestinian people feel shocked  and angered regarding the European vote on Friday, March 25, 2011 in  the 16th term of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva,&#8221; which saw EU  representatives vote against a resolution which started a process that  could lead allegations of war crimes against Israel and Gaza resistance  factions to the International Court of Justice.</p>
<p>&#8220;We were expecting a European position that supported the resolution,&#8221; the letter said.</p>
<p>While  member nations of the UNHRC passed the motion, the letter said  officials were denouncing &#8220;the fact that the majority of European  countries did not vote in favor of the resolution.&#8221;</p>
<p>The letter  was issued and send days after justice Richard Goldstone, the South  African jurist behind the report, printed an opinion article in the  Washington Post, questioning the findings of his own investigation.</p>
<p>&#8220;The  allegations of intentionality by Israel were based on the deaths of and  injuries to civilians in situations where our fact-finding mission had  no evidence on which to draw any other reasonable conclusion,&#8221; the  article said, referring to the refusal of Israel to participate in the  probe. Goldstone continued, however, saying &#8220;investigations published by  the Israeli military and recognized in the U.N. committee’s report have  established the validity of some incidents that we investigated in  cases involving individual soldiers, they also indicate that civilians  were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Critics  have questioned Goldstone&#8217;s motivation for writing the article, and  cited a history of suspect internal Israeli military investigations as  reason to remain skeptical, and pursue charges in an international court  system.</p>
<p>In Gaza, the officials complaining about a lack of EU  support for the document, said &#8220;There is a big difference between what  the European governments claim in terms of their care for respect to  human rights and international humanitarian law and their real positions  on the ground which prevent achieving justice in this region of the  world.&#8221;</p>
<p>The letter said the failure of European governments to  support the report and its recommendations &#8220;reflects the double  standards,&#8221; noting that Britain voted against the resolution while other  EU nations abstained.</p>
<p>Goldstone was charged by the UN to carry  out an investigation into the events of Israsel&#8217;s Operation Cast Lead,  which saw 1,400 Palestinians &#8211; mostly civilians &#8211; and 13 Israelis  killed. The investigation found evidence of war crimes committed both by  the Israeli military and Gaza resistance factions. It recommended that  investigations be carried out into the allegations, and said that if  credible investigations could not be carried out internally, that they  should be referred to the ICJ.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375688">Source</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Related</h3>
<ul>
<li><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></li>
</ul>
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