[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 55 (Thursday, April 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S2554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING ON THE UNITED NATIONS TO RESCIND THE GOLDSTONE REPORT
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res.
138 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 138) calling on the United Nations to
rescind the Goldstone report, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be
laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any
statements be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 138) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 138
Whereas, on January 12, 2009, the United Nations Human
Rights Council passed Resolution S-9/1, authorizing a ``fact-
finding mission'' regarding the conduct of the Government of
Israel during Operation Cast Lead between December 27, 2008,
and January 18, 2009;
Whereas that resolution prejudged the outcome of the fact
finding mission by mandating that it investigate ``violations
of international human rights law and international
humanitarian law by the occupying power, Israel, against the
Palestinian people'';
Whereas, on September 15, 2009, the ``United Nations Fact
Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict'' released its report,
now known as the ``Goldstone report'', named for its chair,
South African Jurist Richard Goldstone;
Whereas the report made numerous unsubstantiated assertions
against Israel, in particular accusing the Government of
Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting
civilians during its operations in Gaza;
Whereas the report downplayed the overwhelming evidence
that Hamas deliberately used Palestinian civilians and
civilian institutions as human shields against Israel and
deliberately targeted Israeli civilians with rocket fire for
over eight years prior to the operation;
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to
welcome the report, to endorse its recommendations, and to
condemn Israel without mentioning Hamas;
Whereas, as a result of the report, the United Nations
General Assembly has passed two resolutions endorsing the
report's findings, the United Nations Secretary-General has
been requested to submit several reports on implementation of
its recommendations, and the Human Rights Council is
scheduled to follow up on implementation of the report during
future sessions;
Whereas the findings of the Goldstone report and the
subsequent and continued United Nations member state actions
following up on those findings have caused and continue to
cause extensive harm to Israel's standing in the world and
could potentially create legal problems for Israel and its
leaders;
Whereas Justice Richard Goldstone publicly retracted the
central claims of the report he authored in an op-ed in The
Washington Post on April 2, 2011;
Whereas Justice Goldstone wrote in that article that if he
``had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would
have been a different document'';
Whereas Justice Goldstone concluded that, contrary to his
report's findings, the Government of Israel did not
intentionally target civilians in the Gaza Strip as a matter
of policy;
Whereas, in contrast, Justice Goldstone states that the
crimes committed by Hamas were clearly intentional, were
targeted at civilians, and constitute a violation of
international law;
Whereas Justice Goldstone also conceded that the number of
civilian casualties in Gaza was far smaller than the report
alleged;
Whereas Justice Goldstone admitted that Israel investigated
the findings in the report, while expressing disappointment
that Hamas has not taken any steps to look into the report's
findings; and
Whereas Justice Goldstone concluded that ``Israel, like any
other sovereign nation, has the right and obligation to
defend itself and its citizens'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) calls on the United Nations Human Rights Council
members to reflect the author's repudiation of the Goldstone
report's central findings, rescind the report, and reconsider
further Council actions with respect to the report's
findings;
(2) urges United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to
work with United Nations member states to reform the United
Nations Human Rights Council so that it no longer unfairly,
disproportionately, and falsely criticizes Israel on a
regular basis;
(3) requests Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to do all in his
power to redress the damage to Israel's reputation caused by
the Goldstone report;
(4) asks the Secretary-General to do all he can to urge
member states to prevent any further United Nations action on
the report's findings; and
(5) urges the United States to take a leadership role in
getting the United Nations and its bodies to prevent any
further action on the report's findings and limit the damage
that this libelous report has caused to our close ally Israel
and to the reputation of the United Nations.
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