[As it seems Israel is just not going to cooperate with the UNHRC instituted probe. But that's not a great surprise. In the meanwhile, the peace talks are still on, and the ceasefire is holding, as yet.]
I/IV. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/.premium-1.610046 UN names Gaza probe panel, headed by harsh Israel critic Committee chaired by Prof. William Schabas, who called for Netanyahu on 'dock of ICC'. Amal Alamuddin, George Clooney's fiance, turns down offer to sit on panel. By Barak Ravid <http://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/barak-ravid-1.325> | Aug. 11, 2014 | 10:43 PM The United Nations Human Rights Council last night named the three members of the international commission of inquiry to investigate possible war crimes by Israel during Operation Protective Edge <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014>. A senior official in the Foreign Ministry said that despite Israel's attempts to influence the composition of the panel, the final outcome is unbalanced and problematic. The three-member panel will be chaired by Prof. William Schabas, a Canadian expert on international law whose academic focus has been on genocide. He is known to be highly critical of Israel and harshly attacked Operation Cast Lead at the time (2008-09). He praised the report issued by the Goldstone Committee following that operation, and said the commission's chairman, Richard Goldstone, should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Schabas has called in the past for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres on trial. Last year, at a conference in New York, Schabas said: "My favorite would be Netanyahu within the dock of the International Criminal Court." A few years earlier, he said that if there was an indictment in the ICC against the president of Sudan for genocide, why should a similar indictment not be issued against the Israeli president for events in Gaza. The second member of the committee is Doudou Diène, an expert on human rights from Senegal who was the UN special envoy on racism and racial discrimination from 2011-14. The committee also enlisted the participation of Lebanese-born British lawyer Amal Alamuddin, who was the legal adviser to the prosecutor during the special international tribunal convened by the UN following the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Alamuddin issued a statement late Monday night "given existing commitments" --including eight ongoing cases. "I wish my colleagues who will serve on the commission courage and strength in their endeavors," she said. Alamuddin may have faced accusations of bias should she have agreed to participate, due to her background: In 1982, when she was 4, her family fled Beirut in a U.S. ship while Israel was bombarding the city. She is engaged to actor George Clooney. Senior officials in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said that for the two weeks following UNHRC's decision to establish the commission, Israel has attempted to influence its composition. Israel asked the United States, Australia, Germany, Britain and other allies to help make the commission more balanced. According to senior ministry officials, Israel made clear that if the commission is balanced, Israel would not completely boycott it, and would be prepared to hold a dialogue with it and convey information relevant to the probe. However, the Israeli efforts failed and the composition of the commission leans significantly toward the Palestinians. Senior officials in the Foreign Ministry said that Israel could use the commission's lack of balance to delegitimize it internationally, as was previously tried with the Goldstone Commission in 2009. Israel started its delegitimization attempts less than an hour after the current appointments were announced. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that with the decision to establish the international commission, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the UN Human Rights Council long ago became a terrorists' rights council. "If more evidence was needed to show this, the appointment of the commission's chairman, whose opinions and positions against Israel are known to all, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Israel cannot expect justice from such a body, and that the report has already been written and remains only to be signed," Palmor said. The commission is to submit its report to the UNHRC in Geneva in March 2015. The statement released by Ambassador Baudelaire Ndong Ella from Gabon, the current president of the council, outlines its mandate: "To investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June, 2014." The commission is also "to establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes perpetrated and to identify those responsible, to make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable, and on ways and means to protect civilians against any further assaults." II/IV. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183957#.U-tUraMxE64 Israel, U.S. Reject UN's Gaza Panel Israel's Foreign Ministry blasts UNHRC panel on Gaza, says panel members have already made up their minds. By Hezki Ezra and Elad Benari First Publish: 8/12/2014, 3:14 AM Israel's Foreign Ministry blasted on Monday the newly appointed <http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183953> United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) panel that will investigate allegations that Israel violated humanitarian law in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry noted that the appointment of Canadian professor William Schabas, who is known for his anti-Israel positions, means that the panel's report has already been written. Schabas has in the past called for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to be prosecuted for war crimes. "The results are known in advance," a Foreign Ministry official said on Monday night. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor added, "If any further proof was required, the appointment of the chairman of the committee, whose views and positions against Israel are known to all, proves beyond any doubt that Israel cannot expect justice from such a body, and that the panel's report has already been written and all that is left is to determine who will sign it." Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department joined in on the criticism on Monday, with deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf telling reporters that any investigation related to Gaza should be done in a way that is non-biased. "We've always said that if there are specific incidents that need investigation, that we think they should be. We said that with UNRWA schools and we've said that in other cases as well," she said. At the same time, she added, "there's a way to investigate things that's not one-sided and biased, and there's a way that we don't support." Several weeks ago, the UNHRC decided to launch an investigation into the IDF's operations in Gaza. The decision to launch an inquiry was made shortly after UNHRC chief Navi Pillay <http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183242_z__mSyAV> said that there is a "strong possibility" that Israel was violating international law through Operation Protective Edge. The Prime Minister's Office slammed the UNHRC's decision, saying it is "a travesty and should be rejected by decent people everywhere". Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has said <http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183271> that the UNHRC has long ago turned into the rights council for terrorists. "We will continue to fight terror and continue to fight the hypocrisy and anti-Semitism of bodies such as the UNHRC," said Liberman. "When countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and the like, who do not know the concept of human rights, point an accusing finger towards us, it is a sign that we are doing the right things," he added. III/IV. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gaza-talks-continue-cairo-truce-holds-24940721?singlePage=true Egypt Presents Proposal to End War in Gaza CAIRO -- Aug 12, 2014, 6:24 PM ET By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH Associated Press Egypt presented a proposed cease-fire to Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the monthlong war, Palestinian officials said early Wednesday after negotiators huddled for a second day of Egyptian-mediated talks meant to resolve the crisis and bring relief to the embattled Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials told The Associated Press early Wednesday morning that Egypt's proposal calls for easing parts of the Israeli blockade of Gaza, bringing some relief to the territory. But it leaves the key areas of disagreement, including the Islamic militant group Hamas' demand for a full lifting of the blockade and Israeli calls for Hamas to disarm, to later negotiations. If the sides accept the proposal it would have a significant impact on Palestinians in Gaza as it would improve the movement of individuals and merchandise to the West Bank, the officials said. Gaza exports and other businesses have been hit hard by restrictions imposed on the territory by Israel and Egypt after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. One of the Palestinian officials who spoke to AP said that according to the Egyptian proposal the blockade would be gradually eased. He said it would stipulate that Israel would end airstrikes on militants, and a 500-meter (547-yard) buffer zone next to the Gaza and Israel frontier would be reduced over time, he said. The Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams retired after 10 hours of discussions and will resume the talks later Wednesday, about 12 hours before the current cease-fire is set to expire at midnight, the officials said. It was not immediately clear if either side would accept the deal. The Palestinian officials spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media. The negotiations took place after a three-day truce brokered by Egypt took effect Monday. A similar truce collapsed last Friday after Gaza militants quickly resumed rocket fire with its expiration. The monthlong Gaza war has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, Palestinian and U.N. officials say. In Israel, 67 people have been killed, all but three of them soldiers. Hamas is demanding an end to an Israel-Egyptian blockade that has ravaged Gaza's economy. Israel says the blockade is needed to keep Hamas, which fired thousands of rockets into Israel during the war, from smuggling weapons. Israel is seeking guarantees that it disarm. With the truce set to expire, Egypt pressed the sides hard to reach a deal. "The talks are difficult but serious," Moussa Abu Marzouk, head of the Hamas delegation, wrote on his Facebook page. "The delegation needs to achieve the hopes of the people." Hamas, shunned by the international community as a terrorist organization, seized control of Gaza from internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Any deal will almost certainly include an increased role by Abbas. The Palestinian leader recently formed a unity government backed by Hamas, ostensibly putting him in charge of Gaza. But in reality, Hamas, with its thousands of fighters and arsenal of rockets, remains the real power. Another member of the Palestinian delegation reported some progress, saying Israel had offered a number of gestures aimed at improving life for Gaza's 1.8 million residents. They included an increase in the number of trucks permitted to deliver goods into the territory from Israel each day, and the transfer of funds by Abbas' Palestinian Authority to Hamas-affiliated government employees in Gaza. The cash-strapped Hamas has been unable to pay the salaries of its employees for months. Also included in the purported Israeli package, the official said, was an eventual quadrupling -- to 12 miles (19 kilometers) -- of the sea area in which Gaza fishing vessels are permitted to operate. But the official said Israel was linking progress on the Palestinians' biggest demands -- to reopen the territory's sea and airport -- to Hamas disarming. The group has rejected this demand. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing ongoing negotiations. Palestinian officials said they were open to extending the talks if progress was being made. Israeli officials declined comment on the negotiations. But in a possible sign of progress, the Ynet website said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been speaking to senior Cabinet ministers about an emerging agreement. It said the deal would include a softening of the blockade to allow the entry of construction materials for rebuilding Gaza under strict international supervision. Israel has limited the flow of goods like concrete and metal, saying Hamas would use them for military use. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said he did not know if there would be a deal by Wednesday night's deadline, and warned that fighting could resume. "I don't know if we should extend negotiations. It could be that fire erupts again," he said. "We must be on alert and ready all the time." The U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva this week formed a commission to look into possible war crimes violations during the Gaza fighting. Israel has not said whether it will cooperate with the investigation. But the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it believes the commission, and its chief investigator, Canadian law professor William Schabas, are biased against Israel. In a television interview, Schabas said he wouldn't let his history of criticizing Israeli leaders affect his ability to carry out the investigation. "What someone who sits in a commission or who is a judge has to be able to do is put these things behind them and start fresh and this is what I intend to do," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV. He would not say whether he would investigate Hamas' actions. Israel's Foreign Ministry called the commission a "kangaroo court" whose verdict is "known ahead of time." Meanwhile, the world's largest bloc of Islamic nations called for an international donors conference for Gaza. The 56-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation also expressed its disappointment at the failure of the U.N. Security Council "to assume its responsibilities" of maintaining peace and security. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal said his country would work with other donors to finance $500 million for the reconstruction of houses and facilities in Gaza. He did not elaborate. Officials have said at least $6 billion is needed. ------ Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. IV. [The Hamas had made the following 10 demands as a precondition for any ceasefire while rejecting the ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt on July 14 last.] Hamas offers Israel 10 conditions for a 10 year truce Ira Glunts on July 16, 2014 86 http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/report-israel-conditions.html Hamas is offering Israel a 10-year truce if it accepts 10 conditions. The Jerusalem Post reports, based on an Israeli Channel 2 newscast, that Azmi Bishara announced the proposal on Al Jazeera television today. Bishara, a former Israeli Knesset member, fled Israel in 2007 after being accused of spying for Hezbollah. He is currently living in Qatar where he is a high level government advisor. According to Ma'ariv (Hebrew) these are the conditions: Withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the Gaza border. Freeing all the prisoners that were arrested after the killing of the three youths. Lifting the siege and opening the border crossings to commerce and people. Establishing an international seaport and airport which would be under U.N. supervision. Increasing the permitted fishing zone to 10 kilometers. Internationalizing the Rafah Crossing and placing it under the supervision of the U.N. and some Arab nations. International forces on the borders. Easing conditions for permits to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque. Prohibition on Israeli interference in the reconciliation agreement. Reestablishing an industrial zone and improvements in further economic development in the Gaza Strip -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
