[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 160 (Friday, October 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10957-S10958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            GOLDSTONE REPORT

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, my colleague in the New York State 
Assembly, Alec Brook-Krasny, wrote two letters regarding the United 
Nations fact finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone, the 
Goldstone Report. Assembly Member Brook-Krasny represents the 
significant Russian speaking community of New York. He voiced the 
concerns of our constituents in writing to the Russian Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Lavrov to raise concerns about Russia's vote in favor 
of the recommendations in the Goldstone Report. Likewise, he 
represented the community's views in voicing appreciation of Ukraine's 
vote along with the United States against adoption of the report's 
recommendations.
  I commend Assembly Member Brook-Krasny for his leadership on this 
issue. I and a bipartisan group of 31 other Senators sent a letter of 
concern about the bias and flaws in the original mandate and ultimate 
recommendations of the Goldstone Report. We commended the State 
Department's leadership on this issue. As the report moves forward for 
consideration by the United Nations General Assembly, I believe it is 
important that the United States continue to do what it can to ensure 
that the Goldstone Report is not used unfairly and cynically to condemn 
Israel without looking at all of the facts and events leading to the 
conflict.
  I ask unanimous consent that the attached letters from New York State 
Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny to Russian Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Lavrov and Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Poroshenko, 
respectively, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                              The Assembly, State of New York,

                                     Albany, NY, October 23, 2009.
     H.E. Sergey Lavrov,
     Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Moscow.
       Dear Minister Lavrov: First, I would like to note that 
     although foreign relations is not a part of my job 
     description as a member of the New York State Assembly, I 
     found it impossible to ignore an event that has seriously 
     concerned more than ten thousand of my constituents--natives 
     of the former USSR.
       I write to you in regards to the recent vote at the United 
     Nations Human Rights Council. Russia has voted in favor of 
     endorsing the conclusions of former South African Judge 
     Richard Goldstone's commission. The report states that 
     antiterrorist operations in Gaza in January 2009 by Israel 
     should be considered as war crimes and deliberate destruction 
     of civilian population. The Goldstone Report mentions some 
     anonymous armed groups, but it says nothing about eight years 
     of the daily firing of rockets at civilians in the south of 
     Israel by Hamas and other terrorists.
       I consider the decision of the Russian Government to 
     endorse the Goldstone Report at the UN Human Rights Council 
     deeply troubling. This decision is directed not only against 
     Israel; it significantly reduces Israel's ability to protect 
     its citizens, including the thousands of Russian citizens 
     living today in Israel.
       Support of Goldstone's report by the Human Rights Council 
     has surprised and aggravated many people, including one of 
     founders of Human Rights Watch, Robert Bernstein. On October 
     19, 2009, New York Times published his article in which he 
     condemned this one-sided report. Even Richard Goldstone 
     himself, in a recent interview with the Swiss newspaper Le 
     Temps, has recognized that in his report ``there is no phrase 
     with condemnation of Hamas''.
       The decision of the UN Human Rights Council will have a 
     negative effect on the continuation and development of the 
     peace process in the Middle East. In the resolution approved 
     by 25 out of 47 members of Human Rights Council, there is no 
     mention of the criminal and terrorist characteristics of 
     Hamas activity. In addition, nothing is mentioned about the 
     long-term bombardments of Sderot and other cities of Israel 
     from Gaza prior to the IDF operation. During eight years of 
     incessant rocket bombardments of Israeli territory, the 
     United Nations kept silent and never adopted a resolution 
     protecting Israeli civilians. When Israel finally

[[Page S10958]]

     decided to end the bombardment of its cities, the Human 
     Rights Council endorsed a resolution that demonized Israel 
     and its army in the eyes of the international community.
       The resolution supported by Russia undermines the interests 
     of those moderate forces in the Palestinian autonomy which 
     would be willing to establish peace with Israel. Goldstone's 
     one-sided report strengthens Hamas's position and sharply 
     weakens the position of the Palestinian government led by 
     Mahmud Abbas. As a result of the Human Rights Council's 
     resolution, the ``Hezbollah-Syria-Iran'' Axis, has gained 
     support, legitimacy and international approval.
       Additionally, Goldstone's report has strengthened Israel's 
     belief that all of their attempts to negotiate a peace with 
     the Palestinian Arabs, including voluntary withdrawal from 
     Gaza and other territorial concessions, will always be 
     ignored by the international community. At the same time, 
     reciprocal steps against terrorists will lead to condemnation 
     by the United Nations.
       Lastly, approval of Goldstone's report will lead to new 
     problems in the struggle against terrorism. In Gaza, Hamas 
     and Jihad widely applied the tactic of using civilians as a 
     ``human shield''. Thus, the resolution of the Human Rights 
     Council has actually proven this is a successful form of 
     terrorist activity. This resolution will complicate the 
     struggle of civilized countries against terrorist activity. 
     It is surprising that Russia, whose citizens constantly 
     suffer from actions of terrorism, has voted for the 
     resolution, thereby justifying these ``human shield'' 
     tactics.
       Russian-speaking Americans have a number of close relatives 
     and friends in Israel. But there is another reason for our 
     anxiety about the unilateral position of the UN Human Rights 
     Council. Israel is a deeply peaceful country, the only 
     democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by autocratic 
     regimes. In Israel, more than 80 human rights organizations 
     freely operate, a free press exists, and the judicial system 
     often rules against other branches of its government. There 
     are many political parties, democratic elections, liberal 
     journalists, a politically active and creative scientific 
     community, and independent courts. This is the country 
     accused of deliberate attacks against civilians and crimes 
     against humanity?
       In the last few years Israel has undertaken many steps for 
     rapprochement with Russia, including the canceling of visa 
     requirements for Russian tourists. I was born and raised in 
     Moscow, and still hope that Russia will become a strategic 
     partner of Israel and will not always automatically vote in 
     the United Nations, as the USSR did, for anti-Israel 
     resolutions. We in America hope that the Russian government 
     aspires to achieve peace in the Middle East, instead of 
     creating new problems and conflicts. A country of such great 
     culture and greater human achievements cannot be on a par 
     with rogue countries such as Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, 
     and Syria.
       I thank you for your attention to this matter, and I hope 
     to receive a concrete and constructive answer to this letter.
           Respectfully,
                                                Alec Brook-Krasny,
     Member of the Assembly, 46th District.
                                  ____



                              The Assembly, State of New York,

                                     Albany, NY, October 23, 2009.
     H.E. Petro Poroshenko,
     Minister of Foreign Affairs,
     Kyiv, Ukraine.
       Your Excellency: I am writing to express my deep 
     appreciation to your Government and to you personally, for 
     voting against the one-sided resolution adopted by the Human 
     Rights Council in Geneva early this month. I express this 
     appreciation also on behalf of my constituency, which is 
     comprised of thousands of immigrants from Ukraine to the U.S. 
     who now live in the district that I represent at the New York 
     State Assembly. I am especially satisfied by the principled 
     stance of your government, as I know that the most respected 
     American Jewish organization, AJC, urged your predecessor to 
     take this position at their meeting with the Ukrainian 
     delegation in New York last month.
       Regrettably, this harmful resolution was endorsed by the 
     majority of 47 members of the Council, but the vote taken by 
     Ukrainian Government, and other democratic nations, 
     underscores the moral bankruptcy of that resolution. As you 
     know, the resolution endorses the recommendations contained 
     in the Goldstone report, which seeks to set the international 
     community in a comprehensive political campaign against 
     Israel. I trust that Ukrainian Government will continue to 
     oppose attempts to single out and censure Israel in the 
     international arena.
       By voting against the endorsement of Goldstone report your 
     government decided to be in the minority rather than forsake 
     its values. We salute your government for adhering to this 
     noble principle.
           Respectfully,
                                                Alec Brook-Krasny,
     Member of the Assembly, 46th District.

                          ____________________