Take Action: House Resolution Provides Israel Impunity for Gaza Crimes

April 22nd, 2011





Above: Justice Richard Goldstone and three team members who have decried Goldstone's recent op-ed.





The UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict found that Israel committed violations of human rights and international law, war crimes and possible crimes against humanity before, during, and after "Operation Cast Lead," Israel's Dec. 2008 to Jan. 2009 onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.



Even before the fact-finding mission was established, and ever since, the Obama Administration and Congress have worked hard to discredit the UN mission and prevent the international community from acting upon its findings.



Now, the House of Representatives is upping the ante by considering a resolution to withhold payment of U.S. dues to the UN until it retracts the final report of the fact-finding mission.



Please take action right now to prevent this from happening.

Make no mistake about it: this is part of a deliberate, concerted strategy by the U.S. to throw around its diplomatic weight, shielding Israel from accountability for any outrage it inflicts on Palestinians, no matter how grave.



This campaign against the fact-finding mission reached its fever pitch after its chair, Judge Richard Goldstone, wrote an unfortunate op-ed in which he reconsidered just one of the 36 incidents documented in the 575-page report .



The three other members of the mission -- Hina Jilani, Christine Chinkin and Desmond Travers -- set the record straight in their own op-ed decrying Goldstone's backtracking, and writing that:

"There is no justification for any demand or expectation for reconsideration of the report as nothing of substance has appeared that would in any way change the context, findings or conclusions of that report ... Indeed, there is no UN procedure or precedent to that effect."

That's exactly right, and that's why it is so disturbing that the Senate has already passed a resolution by unanimous consent -- with literally not one word of debate -- calling on the UN to rescind this trailblazing report.



We still have time, though, to take action to make sure that the House doesn't pass an even worse resolution, and we need your help, to make that happen. Here's how you can...

Thanks for your help.



P.S. -- The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is lobbying strongly to pass these resolutions, and we are the only organization challenging this one. However, our budget is only 0.4% of AIPAC's! Help strengthen the US Campaign and our movement to change U.S. policy, by making a generous, tax-deductible, one-time contribution, or join our Olive Branch Club for recurring donations. Thanks for your support!