http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/middleeast/02mideast.html?ref=global-home
Palestinians Drop Effort to Push War Crime Report By NEIL MacFARQUHAR Published: October 1, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - In a startling shift, the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council dropped its efforts to forward a report accusing Israel of possible war crimes to the Security Council, under pressure from the United States, diplomats said Thursday. The Americans argued that pushing the report now would derail the Middle East peace process that they are trying to revive, diplomats said. "We don't want to create an obstacle for them," Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said by telephone from Geneva, where the Human Rights Council is based. "We want to get a strong resolution to deal with the report in a good manner to get a benefit from it." The report - produced by a panel of investigators led by an internationally respected jurist, Richard Goldstone - found extensive evidence that both Israel and Palestinian militant groups took actions amounting to war crimes during the Gaza war last winter. Israel says that it acted only to halt missile fire from Gaza that terrorized Israeli civilians. The position of the United States since the Goldstone report was released in early September has been that the Human Rights Council alone should deal with it. But in a compromise, the body is expected to pass a resolution Friday presented by the bloc of Arab and Muslim states that any action will be delayed until the next meeting in March. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned the Palestinians and international powers earlier Thursday that any action to advance the report would be a denial of Israel's "right to self-defense" and would kill any chance of peace talks. Mr. Netanyahu, speaking during a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, said that any international endorsement of the report would "strike a severe blow to the war against terrorism." But most immediately, he said, it would "strike a fatal blow to the peace process, because Israel will no longer be able to take additional steps and take risks for peace if its right to self-defense is denied." Diplomats said that the Americans took their position that the report would delay the peace process before Mr. Netanyahu made his remarks. Michael Posner, the new assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, would not comment Thursday about the negotiations. In a speech to the council this week, however, Mr. Posner called the report "deeply flawed" and criticized the council for what he called a fixation with Israel. But he concluded by saying that fair reviews on both sides would build confidence. Israel says that it has a serious inquiry under way, with 100 complaints from Gaza already examined and 23 cases still pending court action. It says that about a third of the 36 incidents in the Goldstone report are already under investigation by the military, while others have been referred for investigation. The Israeli government mounted a concerted diplomatic effort over the past few days against the resolution to forward the report. But there has been a growing debate within Israel itself, with some human rights organizations and academics calling for an independent, nonmilitary review of the Gaza conflict. Mr. Khraishi, the Palestinian ambassador, said that if a resolution were passed now insisting that the General Assembly or the Security Council deal with the matter, as the report itself recommends, it would most likely face an American veto. A delay gives the Israelis and Palestinians time to take up another recommendation in the report: that both sides set up independent investigation panels to look into possible war crimes. "I don't think that the Americans or the Israelis or anybody can escape from the realities that Goldstone collected - not Hamas either," Mr. Khraishi said, referring to the Islamist group that controls Gaza. He said that he had the support of at least 33 members of the 47-member council - but not that of the United States, European Union members or Japan. "There was a tremendous amount of pressure on all members by the Americans," said an Arab diplomat, who requested anonymity according to diplomatic protocol. "The Americans wanted something to finish it; the compromise is to defer it, which means it is still alive." Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
