Dear Attorney General McKenna,
I am sure that by now you must have seen reports of the UN's mission concerning recent actions between Israel and Gaza.
I wish to point out three paragraphs relevant to the letter you co-signed, to our meeting, and to my subsequent request.
In the letter your office received from me at the start of this week, I asked this question: "What is the basis for your belief that the restrictions on supplies to the people of Gaza had anything to do with preventing the movement of weapons?
The position of the UN mission on this issue is stated below:
"The Mission found that, in the lead up to the Israeli military assault on Gaza, Israel imposed a blockade amounting to collective punishment and carried out a systematic policy of progressive isolation and deprivation of the Gaza Strip."
There is no mention of preventing smuggling of weapons. This would be very strange, especially given that Judge Goldstone is a self-described Zionist and lover of Israel.
(He is, in my judgment, a greater lover of truth and fairness.)
I ask again, Do you still believe restrictions on humanitarian supplies by Israel at its border with Gaza had anything to do with stopping weapons from entering? If so, on what basis?
I thank you again for your prompt reply to this question.
Sincerely,
Bert Sacks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
PRESS RELEASE
15 September 2009
UN Fact Finding Mission finds strong evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Gaza conflict; calls for end to impunity
NEW YORK / GENEVA - The UN Fact-Finding Mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone on Tuesday released its long-awaited report on the Gaza conflict, in which it concluded there is evidence indicating serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict, and that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity.
...
In compiling the 574- page report, which contains detailed analysis of 36 specific incidents in Gaza, as well as a number of others in the West Bank and Israel, the Mission conducted 188 individual interviews, reviewed more 10,000 pages of documentation, and viewed some 1,200 photographs, including satellite imagery, as well as 30 videos. The mission heard 38 testimonies during two separate public hearings held in Gaza and Geneva, which were webcast in their entirety. The decision to hear participants from Israel and the West Bank in Geneva rather than in situ was taken after Israel denied the Mission access to both locations. Israel also failed to respond to a comprehensive list of questions posed to it by the Mission. Palestinian authorities in both Gaza and the West Bank cooperated with the Mission.
The Mission found that, in the lead up to the Israeli military assault on Gaza, Israel imposed a blockade amounting to collective punishment and carried out a systematic policy of progressive isolation and deprivation of the Gaza Strip.
Full UN press release at: http://www.tikkun.org/
I guess the US did not impose collective punishment on Germans in WWII?
ReplyDeleteSee http://samsonblinded.org/blog/goldstone-report-the-rebuttal.htm for Goldstone rebuttal.