Washington Post editorial throws light on the impossible standard regarding asymmetric warfare applied to Israel and Israel alone.

The U.N.'s Goldstone commission missed a chance to promote accountability on 21st-century battlefields.

Sunday, November 15, 2009 Washington Post Editorial

IN ORDER to eliminate the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, the United States launched at least 15 missile strikes in Pakistan this year and killed, besides Mr. Mehsud, somewhere between 200 and 300 people, according to a study by the New America Foundation. At least a quarter of those who died were civilians.

Was that toll "disproportionate" to the threat posed by a single terrorist and therefore a war crime? How about the recent NATO bombing of hijacked fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan, in which a mix of 80 to 120 Taliban militants and civilians died? Justified strike, accident or war crime?

This is the sort of fraught question that the United Nations and its Human Rights Council, in theory, ought to be focused on. Asymmetrical wars, in which terrorists and insurgents deliberately mix among civilians, are the story of the 21st century so far -- and there are no clear norms for managing the moral dilemmas they pose. Can a drone's targeter knowingly expose civilians to injury if a terrorist leader is in range? How should a civilized army respond when its soldiers are mortared, or its own civilians exposed to rocket fire, from a position inside a schoolyard?

A commission appointed by the Human Rights Council to investigate Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza last winter could have set an example of serious treatment of such issues. Headed by the respected South African jurist Richard Goldstone, the panel altered the one-sided mandate it received, so as to examine abuses by both Israel and Hamas during the three-week conflict.

But Israel refused to cooperate -- and the Goldstone commission proceeded to make a mockery of impartiality with its judgment of facts. It concluded, on scant evidence, that "disproportionate destruction and violence against civilians were part of a deliberate policy" by Israel. At the same time it pronounced itself unable to confirm that Hamas hid its fighters among civilians, used human shields, fired mortars and rockets from outside schools, stored weapons in mosques, and used a hospital for its headquarters, despite abundant available evidence.

By pretending it did not know whether Hamas employed such tactics and by claiming that Israel's actions were driven by a motivation to kill civilians on purpose, rather than to defeat Hamas, the panel dodged the hard issues it should have tackled. It did not seriously attempt to balance civilian deaths against the threats Israel was targeting or to understand the real motivations for the destruction in areas from which rockets were launched at Israeli cities.

As it happens, Israel is ahead of most other nations in managing these issues. In Gaza its forces used thousands of e-mails, phone calls and even non-lethal explosives to warn civilians away from airstrike targets. Its army's criminal division is investigating 45 complaints of abuses.

A broader, government-sanctioned independent investigation is called for: a number of specific allegations in the Goldstone report, one-sided though they are, deserve a full answer. Not just Israel but the United States and many other nations ought to face more pressure to justify the means they use to fight insurgents and terrorists. Sadly, the only thing proved by the Goldstone commission is that the United Nations is incapable of performing that service.
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hat tip: Meryl Yourish yourish.com

Goldstone Gaza War Report endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council doesn't hold Hamas in violation of humanitarian laws

Quote: "Israel is mentioned explicitly with regards to tens of alleged human rights violations; Hamas is not mentioned in connection with any war crimes."

See: Despite his claims, Goldstone didn’t hold Hamas accountable for terror
By Jonathan Dahoah Halevi


The Hamas de-facto administration and its leaders are never accused of responsibility for terrorism and firing rockets. Rather, nebulous “Palestinian armed groups” are responsible. The theme is repeated in the report’s few references to Palestinian terrorism.

A must watch.

JCRC: UNHRC endorsement of flawed report demonstrates bias against Israel

The JCRC of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, along with The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, deplores today's U.N. Human Rights Council's endorsement of Richard Goldstone's report on Israel's actions defending itself against Hamas.

Jewish Community Relations Commission of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines Contact: Mark S. Finkelstein, Director of Community Relations jcrc@dmjfed.org

The following statement was issued by the Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA), online at www.jewishpublicaffairs.org

JCPA: Goldstone Report Flawed; Demonstrates U.N. Bias against Israel

Posted by JCPA October 16, 2009

NEW YORK - Friday's United Nation Human Rights Council's endorsement of the deeply flawed Goldstone Report is a set-back for peace efforts in the region as it calls into question Israel's right of self-defense, says a leading Jewish advocacy organization.

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and its Israel Advocacy Initiative (IAI), a joint project of UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America and JCPA, deplores today's U.N. Human Rights Council's endorsement of Richard Goldstone's report on Israel's actions defending itself against Hamas. JCPA notes this is the sixth time the Human Rights Council has singled out Israel in a special session in its three-year existence.

Andrea Weinstein, chair of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, released the following statement expressing dismay with today's vote in Geneva:

"We deplore the United Nation's Human Rights Council decision, which, in effect, condemns Israel for defending its citizens against a terrorist regime. For years, Hamas and other terrorist groups have sought to destroy Israel by firing thousands of rockets, inciting fear and killing innocent men, women and children. After numerous unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to end the attacks, Israel, as any nation under siege, had not just a right, but a duty to protect its citizens.

It is unfortunate that the Goldstone Report will only serve as a rallying call for those who are indifferent to Israel's legitimate security needs and to the search for a lasting peace in the region.

We express our appreciation to those nations, including our own, which stood up against this witch-hunt and opposed this resolution. As this report moves forward within the United Nations, we are hopeful those same nations and others will continue to fight back against an anti-Israel initiative that puts the fundamental principle of self-defense in jeopardy."

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Commentary on the Goldstone Report: "It looks like law, but it's just politics" by Warren Goldstein, October 14, 2009