GOLDSTONE'S GAZA REPORT: PART ONE: A FAILURE OF INTELLIGENCE

By Richard Landes *

The first part of this two-part article explores the pervasive flaws that mar the UNHRC's "Gaza Fact-Finding Mission Report." It focuses on an interlocking combination of problems: 1) its failure to investigate seriously the problem of Hamas embedding its war effort in the midst of civilians in order to draw Israeli fire and then accuse Israel of war crimes; 2) its astonishing credulity concerning all Palestinian claims, contrasted with a corresponding skepticism of all Israeli claims; 3) its harsh judgments on Israelis for war crimes (i.e., deliberate targeting of civilians), contrasted with its resolute agnosticism concerning Hamas intentions. The result is that Goldstone actually participates in Hamas' strategy and encourages the sacrificing of their own civilians.

From Arutz Sheva:

Goldstone Expert Complained of 'Jewish Lobbyists'

Shevat 26, 5770, 10 February 10 07:39by Gil Ronen

(Israelnationalnews.com) New revelations about the UN Goldstone Report seriously undermine its credibility. The findings were reported by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in a press conference Wednesday.

According to the JCPA, Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers, formerly of the Irish Defense Forces, was one of the four members of the UN Fact Finding Mission that produced the Goldstone Report. The Mission investigated Operation Cast Lead which Israel conducted in Gaza in January 2009. As the only former officer who belonged to Justice Richard Goldstone's team, he was the senior figure responsible for the military analysis that provided the basis for condemning Israel for war crimes.

JCPA said that serious flaws have recently become evident in Travers' collection and processing of data, and in the conclusions he drew. His bias became more evident after some of his recent interviews. The Jerusalem think tank enumerates these problems thus:

The testimony of Islam Shahwan about the activity of the police was particularly important in determining that the Hamas police force, ordered to "face the enemy," constituted a civilian or military target (see Civilian Casualties).  Whether or not he was honestly reporting or not when he claimed that "face the enemy" meant fight or servicing the public. Given the kinds of conspiracy thinking he articulated at just about the same time as he gave testimony, several analysts found his credibility dubious.  Goldstone did not. Here Israel Matsav lays out the issues.

An anonymous tipster pointed this out to me.

This is paragraph 414 of the Goldstone Commission Report:

414. On 1 January 2009, during the Israeli military operations in Gaza, the police spokesperson, Mr. Islam Shahwan, informed the media that the police commanders had managed to hold three meetings at secret locations since the beginning of the armed operations. He added that “an action plan has been put forward, and we have conducted an assessment of the situation and a general alert has been declared by the police and among the security forces in case of any emergency or a ground invasion. Police officers received clear orders from the leadership to face the enemy, if the Gaza Strip were to be invaded.”

278 Confirming to the Mission that he had been correctly quoted, Mr. Shahwan stated that the instructions given at that meeting were to the effect that in the event of a ground invasion, and particularly if the Israeli armed forces were to enter urban settlements in Gaza, the police was to continue its work of ensuring that basic food stuffs reached the population, of directing the population to safe places, and of upholding public order in the face of the invasion. Mr. Shahwan further stated that not a single policeman had been killed in combat during the armed operations, proving that the instructions had been strictly obeyed by the policemen.

Goldstone already showed excessive eagerness to indict war criminals when he set out an indictment against a fictional character that the Serbs gave him information about and, apparently, he did not bother checking.  Below, the criminal indictment signed by Goldstone, relevant to "Gruban."

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

CASE NO. IT-95-4-I

THE PROSECUTOR OF THE TRIBUNAL

AGAINST

ZELJKO MEAKIC
DRAGOLJUB PRCAC

MOMCILO GRUBAN a/k/a "CKALJA" 
ZDRAVKO GOVEDARICA 
GRUBAN 
PREDRAG KOSTIC a/k/a "KOLE" 
NEDELJKO PASPALJ 
MILAN PAVLIC 
MILUTIN POPOVIC 
DRAZENKO PREDOJEVIC 
ZELJKO SAVIC 
MIRKO BABIC 
NIKICA JANJIC 
DUSAN KNEZEVIC a/k/a "DUCA" 
DRAGOMIR SAPONJA

INDICTMENT

Richard J Goldstone, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, pursuant to his authority under Article 18 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ("The Statute of the Tribunal"), charges:

1. From about 25 May to about 30 August, 1992, Serb forces collected and confined more than 3,000 Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the opstina of Prijedor, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia, in inhumane conditions, under armed guard, in the Omarska "camp", located in a former mining complex approximately fifteen kilometres from the town of Prijedor. As set forth below, the Serb forces killed, raped, sexually assaulted, beat and otherwise mistreated the prisoners at Omarska.

In an interview with the JCPA, Jonathan Halevi discusses the wide gap between the narrative of the witnesses and that found at Arabic Jihadi websites.  Goldstone systematically chose to believe witnesses who claimed no combatants were in the area, despite the fact that many of the dead listed from these incidents are also found on Hamas websites. In extending his credulity to the Palestinian witnesses, Goldstone's Mission made clear they did not think of Hamas as a danger to the civilian population.  The specific discussions of incidents have been also posted at the appropriate Case Studies.

by Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi

Published September 2009

Vol. 9, No. 10   18 September 2009

Blocking the Truth of the Gaza War:

How the Goldstone Commission Understated the Hamas Threat to Palestinian Civilians

Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi

• The UN commission's approach one-sided against Israel, or unbiased and objective as commission chairman Richard Goldstone contended? Statements of Palestinians recorded by the commission and posted on the UN website provide authentic evidence of the commission's methodology and raise serious questions about its intentions to discover the truth.
• Commission members did not ask the interviewed Palestinians questions about the activities of Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip which could be classified as war crimes or that were potentially dangerous to innocent Palestinians. Furthermore, there was no serious consideration of Palestinian "friendly fire" incidents, and we can only guess how many Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded by Palestinian fire.
• Reports issued by the Palestinian terrorist organizations themselves detailed the fighting in a way that often contradicted the Palestinian witnesses. In addition, the witnesses hid vital information from the commission regarding the presence of armed terrorists or exchanges of fire in their vicinity.
• On June 28 and 29, 2009, the Goldstone Commission recorded Palestinian statements at the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City. The following is an analysis of the four main statements, the way the commission interpreted them, and reports from other Palestinian sources which contradict the testimony presented to the commission.