Mr. Speaker, only weeks ago the Goldstone report was released, accusing Israel of “war crimes”. Now the UN Human Rights Council has come out with a contentious resolution endorsing the report. The resolution is entirely one-sided, accusing Israel of all kinds of atrocities. It somehow overlooks eight years of constant Hamas rocket fire and a covenant that openly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Even Mr. Goldstone is disappointed at the lack of condemnation against Hamas in the debate and in the resolution.
Former U.K. commander Col. Richard Kemp told the Security Council of the extraordinary measures taken by Israeli defence forces to warn Palestinian civilians ahead of impending missions. Two million leaflets were dropped; 100,000 telephone calls were placed. Col. Kemp testified he has never seen any military anywhere in the world take more precautions to protect civilians.
This is in direct contrast to Hamas, who deliberately expose civilians on both sides of the conflict to harm.
The next step for Israeli opponents is a referral to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The UN Human Rights Council is chaired by Cuba and dominated by countries with some of the worst human rights abuses in the world. It is time that all responsible nations repudiated this abuse of UN name and title.