Probing the war crimes in Gaza

Probing the war crimes in Gaza...Arab News 6 April 2009

Israel has yet to decide whether it will cooperate with the high-level UN mission formed to investigate what it did in the Gaza Strip early this year but the chances of any sort of cooperation are slim. That's because Israel is guilty and it knows it. Israel has already described as one-sided the new mission of the UN Human Rights Council, citing that the investigating team will focus only on Palestinian victims of the three-week war between Israel and Hamas. But there is a very good reason why the UNHRC's mandate is limited in scope: All the atrocities in Gaza were committed not by Palestinians but by Israel, being the occupying power. The UNHRC has already started work, releasing a report last week that criticized the Israeli military's actions during the offensive in Gaza. It said that Israeli soldiers routinely and intentionally put children in harm's way during their 22-day offensive. The report said investigators had documented and verified reports of violations "too numerous to list." The UNHRC's initial findings are being backed by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights that has put the total Palestinian death toll at 1,417, including 926 civilians of which 313 were children under the age of 18, and 116 women. The Israeli military has now rejected recent claims by its own soldiers that it committed atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza. The probe concluded that the stories were purposely exaggerated and based on hearsay. However, the speed by which the investigation was closed raises suspicions that the very opening of this investigation was merely the army's attempt to wipe its hands of all blame for illegal activity in Gaza. A civilian investigation, which would have been more impartial, was rejected. And the Israeli military also says that the vast majority of Palestinians killed in Gaza were "terror operatives" and that the number of people killed was less than Palestinian sources reported. Israel's figures are 1,166 Palestinians killed, 709 of them identified as Hamas fighters. The numbers presented by the Israeli military differ sharply from those reported by Palestinian sources. It will be up to the UNHRC to determine who is telling the truth and who isn't. To be sure, the UNHRC is relatively new, established only three years ago, and has little bite. About situations in which human rights are violated, it has no authority except to make recommendations to the General Assembly. The General Assembly has no authority except to advice the Security Council where the US can always intervene on behalf of Israel. But what is most needed now is an independent and impartial observer to determine what really took place in Gaza. In Richard Goldstone the UN, at least, believes it has picked the right man for the job. He has the experience; South African Goldstone is a former chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. To give Israel the benefit of the doubt, it is not a coincidence that he is also Jewish. Goldstone is on the board of governors at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is associated with organizations that have worked in Israel. He himself said he was "shocked, as a Jew" to be invited to head the mission. Beginning of good education Teachers should take on some pastoral duties, but they cannot shoulder the entire social burden that comes from irresponsible parenting, said The Observer in an editorial yesterday. Excerpts: . By the time British children are around six years old, their social background has overtaken their natural ability as the main predictor of success in education. Their chances of doing well are skewed before they reach reception class. Detailed research and school-gate chatter concur on this point: The biggest problems in our education system have their roots outside the classroom. The point is made plainly by Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers: "Too many children start school without the social and verbal skills to be able to take part in lessons and to behave well." At its annual conference this week, the ATL will highlight declining standards in children's behavior, for which parents, Dr. Bousted argues, do not take enough responsibility. Many parents would agree. It is their children's education that is jeopardized when a minority disrupts the class. Often disruption can be handled by good teaching. But not always; not when bad behavior is learned at home and encouraged by parents. This is not exclusively a class issue. Wealthy and poor parents alike undermine teachers' authority by refusing to accept that their offspring are capable of doing wrong. But there is also a correlation between poverty and households struggling to provide an environment conducive to learning. It was partly in recognition of that fact that the Department of Education became, in 2007, the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Responsibility for issues of children's well-being was amassed in one portfolio.