UN-Truth

Two very rare events — public hearings into the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead “and the circumstances surrounding it” — are over.

The hearings were held by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict that was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is headed by South Africa’s Justice Richard Goldstone.

The hearings were held over two days in Geneva, followed shortly afterward, for those who could not travel to Gaza, by two days in Geneva.

A UN press release reported that “Over the last month, members of the Mission and the Secretariat supporting it have been conducting a thorough investigation on the ground, including in Gaza. Members have also traveled to Amman, Jordan, to interview witnesses and meet with people and organizations from Israel and the West Bank. The Mission has received a large number of submissions from interested organizations and individuals in response to its public call for submissions”.

The strength of these hearings is the similiarity to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Both Goldstone and South Africa’s Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu were leaders of the Truth and Reconciliation process. But, a very significant aspect of the Truth and Reconciliation hearings is that those guilty of, and responsible for, crimes against humanity and other cruel and criminal acts also testified publicly, and almost all expressed deep remorse and contrition. That has not happened in the Fact-finding Mission’s hearings.

Now, Goldstone told journalists, written questions would be sent to the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas authorities seeking further information to clarify testimony, he said.

The public hearings have been criticized by the Geneva-based Human Rights Watch (which watches out for Israel’s interests), according to an article published today in the Jerusalem Post.

The JPost analysis, written by Haviv Rettig Gur, reported that UN Watch director Hillel Neuer said, in a phone interview, that Goldstone is “participating in something that is very bizarre … I think he’s convinced himself that he’s presiding over some kind of truth and reconciliation commission a la South Africa … Last week he was in Gaza saying to victims, ‘I hear your pain.’ He’s already said he’s doing this for the victims”.
Neuer observed, according to this JPost account, “that the invitation of Palestinians and Israelis to travel to Geneva, all expenses paid, to testify before the mission ‘is something the UN has never done before’.”

Many have said that a South-Africa-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission may be the best if not the only positive way to acknowledge and relieve the intense suffering caused by the Israel-Palestinian conflict. In South Africa, they were very powerful way to prevent post-Apartheid civil strife fueled by fury and revenge. The South African hearings relieved though public acknowlegement and validation the overwhelming emotions of isolation and injustice felt by victims and their families.

The JPost story noted that “Goldstone was chair of the 1991 South African Standing Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation, part of South Africa’s ‘truth and reconciliation’ process”.

But, the JPost said, “Goldstone’s good intentions may be torpedoed by his desire to shoehorn South African-style reconciliation into an ongoing, unreconciled conflict. With the conflict unresolved, a reconciliation process will surely be hijacked for the purposes of the conflict”.

Is there nothing that will please these critics?

A UN press release stated that “The aim of holding these public hearings – and this is the first time in such a UN fact finding mission that public hearings have been held – was to show the human side of the suffering; to give a voice to the victims so that they are not lost among statistics,” Head of the Mission Justice Richard Goldstone told journalists on 7 July in Geneva … “No written words can by themselves convey human stories the way people can do it in their own voice and words,” he said, and he thanked the courageous women and men who had come forward to share their experiences. In all, the Mission heard close to 40 testimonies during the public hearings in Gaza and Geneva, many from victims who had lost members of their families and their livelihoods. Some people had also been unwilling to testify in the public hearings because of fear of possible restrictions and some had been unable to testify because they had not been allowed to travel. The Mission has called for the protections that are required under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders to be accorded to all who gave testimony”.

Israel’s YNet news website reported that “Goldstone told a news briefing: ‘The aim is to show the human side of suffering and give a voice to victims so they are not lost among statistics … Obviously on this mission, visiting Gaza was very important, not only to listen to people but to see the physical damage. That shook all of us, the extent of it,” Goldstone said. Lt. Col Raymond Lane, chief instructor in the Irish Defence Forces School, reported to the UN inquiry about weapons used in the conflict.
‘Through our studies we found no actual proof a DIME round was used’, he said, referring to dense inert metal explosives. But referring to samples containing heavy metals such as tungsten and cobalt, analysed in a forensics laboratory in Dublin, he added: ‘I am of the view that some weapons systems used in the conflict definitely had some DIME components’. White phosphorous can provide cover for troops but also causes burns, he said. ‘It is horrible stuff’.” This article also reported that Lane said the Qassams fired from Gaza were “low-quality rockets, which lack a guidance system and take about 90 seconds to set up and fire” …Lane said that “They are basically fire and forget.” This story can be read in full here.

In a news story on the hearings, the Jerusalem Post reported that Goldstone “noted his preference to observe people and hear their testimonies where they were affected, and said it would have been better to hold the hearings in the south of Israel, where Israelis have been subjected to continued rocket attacks from Gaza. ‘Obviously on this mission visiting Gaza was very important, not only to speak to people and hear what they suffered, what they endured, but also to see the physical damage, which I think shocked all of us, the extent of it’.” Goldstone noted that “No party to the conflict was fully cooperative … ‘That’s the nature of this beast … One’s dealing with strategic issues, one’s dealing in some respects with intelligence matters, and one’s got to do the best one can’.” This JPost news report can be read in full here.

Filed under: Egypt, Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council