mr president the goldstone report tries to fulfil the mandate it was given
that mandate is or was the following to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in gaza during the period from twenty-seven december two thousand and eight and eighteen january two thousand and nine whether before during or after
and that is exactly what the goldstone report has done although it was not just mr goldstone it was also his two female colleagues
they conducted investigations on what happened in gaza and came up with conclusions that are disturbing to say the least
they are extremely disturbing because they find in most of the instances they looked into that breaches of international law and international humanitarian law and breaches of the geneva conventions have indeed been committed by the forces of a state that claims to be the sole democratic state in the region
that is indeed very disquieting
we should not let it pass
so when we are called upon to take a position on this report the question is not whether we are for or against israel for or against the palestinians for or against hamas the question is whether we condone breaches of international law of international humanitarian law and of the geneva conventions no matter by whom they were committed
that is what we need to answer
