RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, amid mounting criticisms at home over Palestinian Authority’s decision to withdraw support for a UN report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza, on Sunday formed a committee to investigate the reasons for the move.
The report by respected justice Richard Goldstone will now lie dormant for at least six months rather than be sent to the UN General Assembly with possible recommendations for action.
“Abbas, after consultations with PLO members and Prime Minister (Salam Fayyad), issued a decree to form a committee to investigate the circumstances behind postponing the vote on Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes during its aggression on Gaza Strip,” Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of PLO’s executive committee, said in a press statement.
The Palestinian decision to suspend the campaign for war crimes prosecutions was first reported late Thursday as the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva was considering a vote on the Goldstone report.
The ºreversal came as a result of intense US pressure, Palestinian officials said.
With the Palestinians out of the picture, Arab and Muslim supporters followed suit, and the vote was deferred to March.
Since then, anger in the Abbas-run West Bank and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has been building. PLO leaders met late Saturday and demanded action.
Planning Minister Ali Jarbawi said he would seek an explanation at a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
“We want to know exactly what happened. The government decided to go ahead with Goldstone report until the end, but someone made a mistake,” he said. “There was a wrong decision, and this is terribly bad.”
Other Abbas aides have defended the decision, saying the Palestinians needed more time to win international support for the Goldstone report.
Palestinian Economics Minister Bassem Khouri resigned on Saturday apparently to protest Abbas’ decision.
In the Gaza Strip, demonstrators and human rights groups expressed their condemnation Saturday.
In Gaza City, hundreds of high school and university students skipped classes to march through town, while Gazans injured during the war organized their own news conference.
A dozen Palestinian human rights organizations, many of whom provided reports to Goldstone and considered the report a vindication of their efforts, expressed their disappointment.
— With input from agencies
