Note: the diary was originally about a report from B'tselem, but i thought there should be some notice that US/Israel chosen leader of the Palestinian people will now refuse to do their bidding, and will not run for re-election... More about that after this about the B'Tselem report...
Some who are objecting to the findings of the Goldstone Report, reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the reports of the International Red Cross, Oxfam and so many more... are countering that Israel is conducting its own credible investigation.
Indeed, Israel has conducted its own investigation. It has even lead to criminal prosecutions. One prosecution. In an operation that killed hundreds of children, and mostly civilians... the Israel government has prosecuted one soldier for stealing a credit card.
Yet these continuing investigations do not ask the most important question. The problem is not the isolated actions of soldiers, but the overall policies ordered by the leadership of Operation Cast Lead.
the investigations now taking place are problematic and cannot be deemed sufficient. First, they only relate to isolated incidents in which a suspicion exists that soldiers breached military orders. To date, not one investigation has been opened regarding Israel’s policy during the operation, on matters such as the selection of targets, the open-fire orders given to soldiers, the legality of the weapons used, the balance between injury to civilians and military advantage, and so forth. Declarations recently made by Israeli officials indicate that there is no intention to investigate such matters.--- From B'Tselem
We might add, that the United States House of Ill-Repute has added its voice: No Investigation! No Accountability! At least the House is consistent, giving the same exemption to international law to US allies as it grants to the Cheney/Bush regime.
In the meantime, the people of Gaza suffer under military siege. Humanitarian supplies are restricted, as are rebuilding supplies. In fact, Israel's policy is to restrict the importation into Gaza anything it deems "not essential". Everything from Crayons to Surfboards, pasta and cement.... (although one can imagine the threat to Western Civilization if enemy 2nd graders were to attain an unlimited supply of red crayons!)
After the thousands of homes and essential facilities that were destroyed in the massacre on Gaza, Cement is severely restricted into Gaza. What does it mean that the US condones and/or supports such policies?
UPDATE: To include Breaking News from the Middle East, Israel's favorite Palestinian will not run for election in the planned
January Elections.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he had no wish to seek re-election at a presidential poll he has called for January and that he was not ready to debate the issue.
In a speech broadcast live from his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the 74-year-old PLO leader, who replaced the late Yasser Arafat five years ago, said: "I have told our brethren in the PLO ... that I have no desire to run in the forthcoming election."
See Story.