According to UN sources at the world body's headquarters in New York, Ban is holding discussions with the five permanent members of the Security Council while seeking the advice of international observers, all in an effort to formulate an "international authority" that would investigate the Israel Navy's takeover of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara on May 31 during which occupation soldiers killed nine Turkish activists in international waters.
UN sources added, however, that Ban was not interested in dispatching an investigative committee similar to that headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone, who probed the deadly Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008.
After a three-hour discussion, the Israeli cabinet approved Monday the public committee into the Gaza flotilla events in a unanimous vote. "It is not ideal, but the other options are less good," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said regarding the probe. "The flotilla to Gaza was not a one-time incident. We are in the midst of a difficult and continuous fight against the State of Israel."
A retired Supreme Court justice, Jacob Turkel, will head the committee, which will also include two international observers and allegedly tackle the legality of the blockade of Gaza and the legality of the Israeli navy's actions. The PM raised eyebrows yesterday by nominating to the panel individuals who have long ended their public service careers. The average age of the Israeli committee members is 84. The head of the panel, Turkel, is 75 years old; Professor Shabtai Rosen, a renowned international law expert, is 93 and Maj. Gen. (res. ) Amos Horev is 86. Judges in Israel retire at the age of 70.
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office dismissed criticism of the advanced age of the Israeli committee members, saying they were all “lucid” and experts in their respective fields.
Netanyahu stressed that Tel Aviv remains wary of continued attempts by international players to establish further inquiries.
Aside from Ban's efforts, Turkey's outright dismissal of the Israeli panel gives Israel pause.
"We believe that Israel, as a country which attacked a civil convoy in international waters, will not conduct an impartial inquiry," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday. "If an international commission is not set up and Turkey's rightful demands are ignored, Turkey has the right to review its relations with Israel," Davutoglu said at a press conference in Ankara.
CLOSE U.S.-ISRAELI COORDINATION
Netanyahu also remains concerned after the United States did not explicitly pledge to veto any resolution brought before the Security Council that calls for an international inquiry. Washington has thus far made do with a statement praising the Israeli occupation for its investigative procedures.
The US was not interested in representation on the Israel probe because it didn’t want to detract from the “credibility” of the committee or get in the middle of friction between its two closest Middle East allies, according to diplomatic officials. The officials said there was concern in Washington that if a US representative sat on the committee, it would – because of the US’s strong support of Israel – detract from the “body’s credibility”.
The US quickly backed Israel’s establishment of the committee, with the White House issuing a statement Sunday evening that came at about the same time Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying it had decided to set up the committee. This type of timing, officials said in Tel Aviv, was not coincidental and was a sign of close coordination on the matter.
Israeli sources told Israeli media that the US didn’t want to fully commit to the investigation’s outcome without first seeing how it proceeded. But they noted that the US had green-lighted how Israel had assembled the commission, including international observers from Canada and Northern Ireland.
EU URGES LIFTING GAZA BLOCKADE
However, the European Union urged Israel yesterday to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip. The statement, which one Israeli official described as a “dour-faced endorsement” of the committee Israel had set up, called for "credible international participation" in an investigation of the flotilla raid. In Luxembourg, Tony Blair of the Quartet committee said he hoped Israel would soon ease the three-year-old blockade by allowing commercial goods and reconstruction materials to flow into the Palestinian territory.
Criticism of the Israeli inquiry has been growing as commentators are questioning the feasibility of an Israeli investigation into an Israeli crime in international waters. Questions about the international community and the US’s double standards have also been on the rise especially when international investigations have been sanctioned in many parts of the world for crimes committed in sovereign states, not international waters. A Lebanese investigative panel into the crime of assassinating late Prime Minister Martyr Rafiq Hariri was rejected and so was a probe committee headed by the Arab league, and eventually an international investigation and tribunal were formed.
Hamas welcomes EU call for lifting siege on Gaza
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
No comments:
Post a Comment