Economist.com, Democracy in America, 16 September 2009
THE 550-page report released yesterday by the UN investigating committee on war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during Israel’s invasion of Gaza in December and January, chaired by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge, is pretty damning. The Israeli and Hamas responses to the report, meanwhile, are pretty feeble. The report recommends that the UN Security Council demand Israel conduct its own investigations into its alleged war crimes, and, if it fails to do so adequately, that allegations of war crimes be remanded to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. If the Security Council does consider requiring Israel to conduct such investigations, America will be faced with deciding whether it can continue to play its traditional role of defending Israel with its veto, this time against specific, credible, and numerous charges of war crimes. Israel can make that decision easier, however, by continuing its current strategy of refusing to accept any responsibility for Palestinian civilian deaths. Easier, that is, for America to vote against its ally.
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