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As luck would have it, we just happened to be in Gaza at the same time as Justice Richard Goldstone, the Jewish South African judge who is leading the UN Human Rights Council investigation of the assault on Gaza. He and his team had just arrived in Gaza on Wednesday, the day before we were leaving and our brilliant CodePink organizers managed to arrange a meeting with him.
The international fact finding mission has been given the mandate “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after.”
He started off by saying that though they had planned to enter through Israel, they had been forced, like us, to travel through Rafah. “We had hoped Israel would cooperate with our investigation, but unfortunately that have chosen not to.” He also commented on the immense amount of data and the very short time period his mission has been given to complete their report – just three months. They had held their first hearings in Geneva in early May and this was the first trip to the area.
One person from our delegation suggested that they contact the volunteers of the International Solidarity Movement with whom we had met the night before. They have footage of the Israeli military firing on unarmed Palestinian fishermen and farmers.
Roane Carey, managing editor at The Nation and part of our delegation, asked Justice Goldstone if, given the tight time constraints on his mission as well as the lack of cooperation on the part of Israel, he felt he could do still do his job. Goldstone replied that they had no choice and that they would do their best to work within the limits imposed upon them.
The most passionate appeal came from Norm Finkelstein. “People here just want you to be fair. They’ve lost faith in international law and UN resolutions, which bore them to tears.” He reminded Justice Goldstone that there would be immense pressure on the mission not to be evenhanded. And that this was an incredible opportunity to show the Muslim world that a Jew can be fair. Goldstone replied that his first loyalty was to truth and justice and that loyalty would guide him in the investigation.
Category: in gaza
