U.N. Sec. Council to Weigh Gaza War Crimes

Human Rights Council Votes to Refer Controversial Report on Crimes by Palestinians, Israelis to Security Council

(CBS/AP)  The U.N. Human Rights Council has voted to refer a Gaza war crimes report to the Security Council, possibly setting up international prosecution of Israelis and Palestinians accused of war crimes.

The vote was 25 to 6 in favor of the resolution. Eleven countries abstained in the 47-nation body Friday.

The council approved the resolution after two days of debate over a report on last winter's war that was written by Judge Richard Goldstone and his team.

Israel and the United States have called the report "flawed" and warned that it could jeopardize the Middle East peace prospects. Almost 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died during the Dec. 27-Jan. 18 conflict.

Israel immediately rejected the commission's report, calling it "one-sided, biased and therefore wrong."

The report became the focus of the Security Council's monthly Mideast meeting on Wednesday after an about-face by the Palestinians.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki and Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev opened the council meeting Wednesday by trading accusations about the Goldstone report. The session ended Wednesday evening after nearly 50 speeches.

[jiminlou]

never gonna happen....

[fss2009]

It is high time the world hold Israel resposible for their crimes against humanity. These are not victims, these are war criminals.

[G-I_Jesus]

Massacre At The Highest Levels

Now let's see... 13 Israelite deaths divided by 1400 Palestinian deaths equal .009 percent. This means less then one Israeli has died for every one hundred Palestinian deaths. I wonder why the count is so lopsided.

Was it because the Palestinians have no army? Or that Israel targeted the whole Palestinian population instead of going after the terrorists? Or that the weapons of mass destruction used where totally inadequate for this kind of intervention?

Israel must be held accountable for this massacre! And shame on you Mr. Obama if you sweep this tragedy under the carpet. Peace encompasses the notions of past actions also so that history does not repeat itself.

[TPS2]

Or it could be that these brave Palestinian "freedom fighters" decided to conduct pitched battles with Israeli forces amongst their own people. Apparently Hamas had no issue with intentionally endangering people with their actions, then "lamenting" the loss of civilian lives as a result. I suppose the Israeli's should have held to higher moral principles and allowed Hamas to shoot at them. The Palestinian people have every right to be angry with Israel, but they should be angry at Hamas for provoking Israel to invade in the first place. Why provoke a numerically superior, better armed force into battle in one?s own streets? Gaza is a very small place; it is approximately 25 miles long and ranges from 4 to 7.5 miles wide. Surely Hamas understood what the cost in civilian lives would be, when Israel decided to put a stop to the constant rocket attacks launched from within Gaza. It is a PR victory for Hamas. They managed to pick a fight with Israel, (thereby demonstrating the determination to "resist" the Zionist), they were able to kill a few Jews, and they gained some international press. It was a win-win for people who are willing to sacrifice non-combatants to gain some face time with the press. More than likely, Hamas had to show their financial backers some results in the war against the Zionists.
Perhaps someone will offer up the tired argument about a "measured response," which is absolutely absurd at best. Ah yes, then there is the other worn out argument about the continued building of Israeli settlements; mustn't leave that out. The fact that Hamas has vowed to destroy Israel, clearly demonstrates their unwillingness to compromise. So why is it that demands are placed on Israel to attempt reasoning with the unreasonable?

It would be worthwhile to read the last sentence in the first segment of the article. Particularly the part about setting up international prosecution of Israelis AND Palestinians accused of war crimes.