Government Shows Lack of Spine in UN Vote

Salaam all,

Just expressed my concern by registering my vote on the prime ministers website, and emailing my local mp, come on people lets get our voices heard.

I wonder whether UK's failure to express any opinion in relation to this report has more to do with potential precedents that could be made due to this report and the UNHRC's stance.
The report places a primary responsibility upon Israel to provide absolute protection for civilians, without regard for any other condition. Thus even though civilians may provide succour and shelter to the fighters. There is some suggestion in the debate that persons who are not part of a formal state military formation who engage on a part-time basis as combatants are to be considered civilians at any point where they are not actively engaged in combat.
Equally the issues of asymetrical warfare that place constraints upon the stronger side in responding to attacks by a weaker faction or nation. If the stronger body may not deploy their full military capacity then that advantage ceases to be a deterent.
If powerful nations such as UK are likely upon the above criteria to find themselves brought before war crimes tribunals then it those states need to reconsider their international role and defence strategy.
In the Gaza conflict the ceasefire was breached due to actions by Hamas (attempted kidnapping raid) and the subsequent invasion was a response to Hamas militart action directed exclusively against civilian targets. If Israel is to be taken to court over its actions, and Hamas is not, then clearly the entire Israeli strategy needs to be rethought. This is highly unlikely to benefit the Palestinians.
If Israel is found guilty then it certainly will permanently and completely alienate Israel from the UN, and the Israelis will ask in what basis an organisation populated by various dictatorships and HR abusers has a right to judge Israel. While such a position may make things difficult for the Israelis, it would be catastrophic for the Palestinians. Simply how would aid be delivered to the Palestinians if the Israelis refuse to host or cooperate with the UN?

Many of us, including myself, are in error in blaming Hamas' political leadership for the rockets which acted as a catalyst for this latest Israeli violence. The perpetrators of these attacks came from both "Hamas" & "Fatah" military factions, as Goldstone correctly identifies. despite Hamas' call for a cessation of rocket & mortar fire it did not occur and it highlights a fundamental and critical issue for Palestine.
The armed factions are largely independent of the political factions and are not subject entirely to their directions. The root of this is in the foundation of the PLO and Arafat's practice of encouraging factionalism to ensure his own power. It also is founded in the fundamental threat that a negotiated peace poses for the armed factions. Today the armed factions are able to raise funds through a variety of mechanism to resource their activities, including paying wages. Once the need for the armed factions ceases they will not be able to raise such funds and their fighters will find themselves at the economic bottom of the pile. They are unlikely to be easily intergrated into a single government force because they lack the skills required for a national force, and are unlikely to be willing to subordinate themselves to an elected government.
It has been too easy for everyone to gloss over the threat that these faction pose to the Palestinian nation state. But the Jenin & Balata "Massacres" highlighted the real threat that factionalism poses where the Fatah led government had lost control of these camps in 1999 and armed factions ran them and operated out of them.
These operationally independent forces can and do undermine attempts to work toward a negotiated peace as the only meaningful contribution that the Palestinian collective can offer in negotiations is a permanent cessation of violence. So long as the PNA does not control these forces and thus cannot deliver on peace then the Zionists have an excuse to impede any progression to an end to the conflict.
Interestingly, despite some Zionist fantasies exhibited here about Jewish unity, the nascent Israeli state faced exactly the same issue in 1948 and the dominant Haganah under the direction fo Ben Gurion's leadership forcibly denied the Irgun the opportunity to continue to be an independent force. (For those interested they should read up on the Altalena).
Ultimately the PNA, whatever its complexion, will have to disarm all of these factions and bring all military & security activity under the sole control of the PNA. Until that time arrives, the factions' Kalashnikovs will be forever jammed into the backs of the PNA's leadership and the faces of the Palestinian people. Until that time arrives there will never be a stable Palestinian state.