UNDERSTANDING
THE GOLDSTONE REPORT

The section of Friedmann's article that deals specifically with the creation and composition of the GFFM. His comments on Christine Chinkin's inclusion are particularly sharp.

Exclusive: 'Goldstone report - the terrorists' Magna Carta'

A commission created in sin gives birth to an aberration

Israel has suffered from terrorism since its establishment, long before it was blamed for having conquered territories from which attacks against it were launched. The war of terror changed phases, becoming more and more sinister. From "simple" murder of women and children, it turned into airplane hijackings, murdering hostages, suicide bombers and global terror - including the mass murder of members of the Israeli team during the Olympic Games in Munich. During the past eight years a new mode of terror has developed - that of firing rockets on civilian targets from the Gaza Strip. Some 12,000 rockets have been fired, terrorizing hundreds of thousands of Israelis and causing tremendous damage to the economy.

None of these actions triggered UN intervention. Moreover, other countries involved in the war against terror elsewhere in the world - such as in Iraq, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey - have remained immune to fact-finding missions by the Human Rights Council, despite the thousands of civilians killed or wounded in these conflicts, and the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced. Israel, the victim of incessant rocket attacks and endless acts of terror, has been singled out for special treatment.

The Human Rights Council's obsession with targeting Israel is common knowledge. Since its establishment in 2006, five out of its 11 special sessions have been devoted to matters involving the Jewish state. Yet in its resolution to establish the fact-finding mission in Gaza, the council outdid itself. Employing extremely biased wording, the council's charge directed its mission "to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying power, Israel, against the Palestinian people... particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression..."

Israel is thus declared culpable even before the investigation begins.

Many states on the council refused to support this one-sided resolution, including the member states of the European Union, Switzerland, Canada, Korea and Japan.

The council never changed its outrageous mandate, but its president stated the mission's mandate in more moderate terms: "To investigate all violations of international human rights and international human rights law that might have been committed [...] in the context of the military operation in Gaza..."

Despite the reworded resolution, it seems that the mission acted in the spirit of its original mandate.

The composition of the mission

The prejudicial nature of the mission led several distinguished individuals, including former high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson, to refuse invitations to chair it. Justice Richard Goldstone was, however, happy to comply. Other members of the mission included Hina Jilani of Pakistan, a country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel, and Prof. Christine Chinkin, who was one of the signatories of a letter, published in the Sunday Times on January 11, 2009, and entitled, "Israel's bombardment of Gaza is not self-defense - it's a war crime."

The amazement at Chinkin's appointment is dwarfed by the way Goldstone justified the refusal to disqualify her. In an interview on Israel TV, he was asked about Chinkin serving on the mission. He had no qualms explaining that "it is not a judicial inquiry. It's a fact-finding mission." Further, he said that he found Chinkin "to be an intelligent, sensible, even-handed person," and he was "satisfied that she's got a completely open mind."

"She is one of four people on the committee," he continued, adding that he did not "believe that any prima facie views she might have held at an earlier stage is going to [...] affect [...] the report."

Goldstone thus justified an appointment that militates against basic rules of fairness, due process and natural justice. His untenable reasoning, which would have failed a first-year law student, casts grave doubts about the justice himself.

Moreover, Goldstone's claim that he was leading "a fact-finding mission" is refuted by the report, which is highly judicial, replete with purported legal analysis of international law, detailed legal findings and reaching judicial determinations on "war crimes."

The inescapable conclusion is that the whole report is invalid and cannot form a basis for any decision or action.

It is also not surprising that Goldstone's report became what it is - a complete aberration.