SOUTH AFRICAN ZIONIST FEDERATION, SOUTH AFRICAN JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF RABBI
 
NEWS RELEASE
 
16 September 2009
 
The Report of the Gaza Fact Finding Mission (GFFM), since it features at least some condemnation of the aggressive and unlawful actions by the Palestinian side, is in some ways an improvement on previous investigations into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instituted by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Nevertheless, its conclusions are heavily and unreasonably weighted against Israel. This is unsurprising given that the Mission’s mandate was so framed as to find Israel guilty as charged from the very outset. 
 
Two vital conclusions and obvious conclusions are glaringly absent in the GFFM Report:
 
    •    First, without Hamas’ bombardment of Israeli towns, with over 12 000 missiles fired prior to Israel’s counter-offensive, the war would not have happened at all.
 
    •    Second, had Hamas not deliberately based its terrorist operations in densely populated civilian areas, Palestinian civilian casualties would have been minimal.  
 
By ignoring the extensive evidence of Hamas’ use of ‘human shields’ the Mission has effectively rewarded Hamas with a propaganda victory for its sacrifice of innocent lives. What is worse, it has thereby provided an incentive for Hamas to persist with this criminal strategy, to the detriment of both the Palestinian and Israeli people.
 
The UNHRC has a long and shameful record of overt anti-Israel bias. 80% of its resolutions have targeted Israel while the world’s major human rights violators get off scot-free. It further has a special and permanent agenda item targeting only Israel for alleged human rights violations and another agenda item for the rest of the world, proving unequivocally that Israel is singled out for discriminatory treatment.
 
Israel has co-operated with numerous previous inquests into its military actions but declined to cooperate with the GFFM because the UNHRC had prejudged the issue and found Israel guilty even before the investigation commenced. It could not risk legitimising an inherently flawed and one-sided process by its participation. Unlike the Palestinian leadership, moreover, Israel regularly investigates allegations of wrongdoing by its own armed forces, including the Gaza operation.   
 
Regrettably, the GFFM Report failed to rise above the politically motivated anti-Israel agenda of its framers, thus undermining rather than affirming the standing of international law in future conflicts.
 
For further comment, contact Avrom Krengel, Chairman SA Zionist Federation (082 600 6465), Zev Krengel, Chairman SA Jewish Board of Deputies (082 557 9681) or Rabbi Warren Goldstein (082 467 8751).
                                                                                                                                  
Issued by Wendy Kahn National Director SAJBD (083 44 3675)