Britain's Gaza shame

[desertson]

Once again, the government of Great Britain has taken the cowardly abstention cop-out on taking forward the Goldstone Report, at the United Nations. The vote on Thursday saw the USA predictably endorsing the Israeli atrocities during the Gaza massacre, together with Italy and others, inexplicaby including The Netherlands, normally a peace-loving and humanitarian nation.
Fortunately, enough enlightened nations voted in favour of the resolution - by a large majority - further shaming the dissenters.
Britain's international reputation (until now) as a nation of fair play, compassion and charity, is in tatters because of this shameful abstention, and Brittania must hang her head in shame.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=11 ... =351020202
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=11 ... =351020202

[desertson]

This is the repy I received from my complaint to the UK delegation at the United Nations

Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for your correspondence regarding the UN-mandated Fact Finding Mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone. We apologise that this is not personally addressed. We have received large volumes of correspondence on this subject and wish to ensure you receive a reply as quickly as possible.
We take the report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on Gaza very seriously. We have been clear from the beginning of the conflict that all allegations of abuse should be properly investigated.
We have some concerns about the final report. While we are pleased that Justice Goldstone made clear that he would investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by all sides in the conflict, the report did not adequately recognise Israel’s right to protect its citizens and did not pay sufficient attention to Hamas’ actions. The report also made some broad assertions concerning detailed interpretation of international law with which we differ. Israel’s refusal to co-operate with Goldstone’s team, which we regret, also had the effect of limiting Goldstone’s access to crucial information, not least about decision-making at the time of an attack which is so crucial to assessment of legality. Given these issues, we cannot endorse all of Goldstone’s recommendations.
However, we remain deeply concerned about the allegations of abuses committed by both sides during the Gaza conflict. Hamas rocket attacks are a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the report raises serious questions about Israeli conduct. As Goldstone himself highlights, the way forward is for those against whom allegations are made to carry out full, credible and impartial investigations. Israel has undertaken a number of investigations, but we do not believe these have yet adequately addressed the concerns highlighted by Goldstone and elsewhere, including going beyond specific incidents to address the policy around use of weaponry and rules of engagement.
Without contact with Hamas, there is little we can do to press them to face up to their actions. We have, however, raised this at the highest levels with the Israeli authorities. The Prime Minister has spoken to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to Defence Minister Barak.
The UK along with our EU partners played its full part in the 4-5 November UN General Assembly debate on the Goldstone report. We worked hard before the vote to reach a consensus on a resolution we could support. In the end we had to abstain, with France and forty two others, because voting for would have meant endorsing the report and ignoring its flaws. However, we maintain that the issues raised by the report are serious and the parties should address them. We were fully supportive of the core of the resolution: the need for credible, independent investigations.
The current humanitarian situation in Gaza is a serious cause for concern that will only get worse with the onset of winter. Despite repeated representations from the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and indeed the whole international community, the Israeli government has not eased border restrictions sufficiently to allow the passage of all essential humanitarian aid or significant reconstruction material. Continuing rocket fire from Gaza and the detention for over three years by Hamas of Gilad Shalit, without Red Cross access, is also unacceptable. We welcome the videotape of him released by Hamas on 2 October as part of a prisoner swap deal, but call again on Hamas to release him without further delay or conditions.
We believe the best way to address the various issues in the region is for a comprehensive peace between the parties. Facilitating peace remains a high priority for me. With the support of our international allies, we will continue to pursue vigorously a comprehensive peace based on a two-state solution, involving a viable Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security.

I hope this answers your question.

Yours sincerely,



Near East Group

[tio]

I thought you might find this interesting .. our Foreign Secretary David Milibrand in action ..
How Israel Won the Settlement Battle, Again
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_ ... p?id=15542