There has been recent commotion by supporters of the United Nations' Goldstone report spreading half-truths and misinformation by claiming that the report deals with "human rights."
The Goldstone report was controversial from its very beginning. First, it's important to mention that the "fact-finding mission" into last year's Gaza conflict was commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council, an organization so biased and prejudiced in its voting record that the United States has considered boycotting it completely. The mandate passed for Goldstone's fact-finding mission included only a provision to "investigate the violations of international human rights law… by Israel, against the Palestinian people… particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip."
The mandate failed to make room for investigations of violations of the militant Hamas government or of the Islamic Jihad faction against Israel's civilians that originally led to the incursion, or of the complicity of Iran and Syria, who are well-known sponsors of armed extremist groups in the area. It also failed to recognize that as of 2005, the Gaza Strip is devoid of any Israeli occupation, or even Jewish settlers. Because of this, 15 out of the 47 members of the council, including leading democracies from four continents, refused to support the Goldstone mission altogether. Still, the Goldstone delegation departed for the Palestinian territories with an incomplete agenda.
It is therefore no surprise that the Goldstone report contains only testimony relating to Israeli acts of aggression (most of it being notoriously unreliable eyewitness testimony and some even bordering hearsay), without even a mention of motives or context. During the entire fact-finding mission, Goldstone did not bother to consult with Israeli officials or military representatives, nor did he venture into Israeli towns that were subject to the terror of constant rocket attacks into purely civilian areas and collect their testimonies. Some sections of the Goldstone report read like bizarre horror stories - Israeli forces firing from helicopters on a UN school and even a hospital and a mosque. However, the truth of the situation is that Hamas and other insurgent fighters deliberately used these locations for staging rocket attacks and storing weapons. YouTube, for example, is rife with documented videos of Hamas using women and children as human shields. After the fighting was over, Hamas was so proud of their job that they have chosen to reconstruct one of their headquarters adjacent to the Gaza psychiatric hospital, because they know Israel would think twice about encountering collateral civilian casualties.
Supporters of the Goldstone report try to save face by claiming that the report is a peaceful one that calls for both sides to conduct their own investigations. However, it's clear that this is not the case, and the report is instead being used by those who wish to demonize Israel on an international level. It is for this reason the United States repudiated the Goldstone report in a congressional resolution, H.Res. 867, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
You may ask yourself, how is this relevant to me? I believe this is an issue that concerns all of us as Americans. The egregious singling out of one nation repeatedly as an offender without giving the complete picture of the situation is a miscarriage of justice that threatens the integrity of not only the UN but also that of honest international reporting.
Israel is a beacon of democracy - just like the United States. It is a free and open country that prides itself on being based on the rule of law. In fact, the Israeli government has initiated a number of investigations into abuses of its army and has taken the necessary actions when found guilty.
Though mistakes have been made on both sides, we should undoubtedly support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. I encourage UF students to contact Gators for Israel or a political science professor if they want to learn more about the situation in the Middle East.
Yoav Mor is the director of public relations for Gators for Israel.
