Goldstone Report: the PNA gets a special session at the UN
Geneva (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The UN Human Rights Council will host a special session tomorrow, October 15 on the Goldstone Report, that accuses Hamas and Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza last winter.
The discussion will take place in a meeting devoted to the "human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and East Jerusalem" and was requested by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
The request of the PNA in Geneva is the result of a u-turn by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. At first in favour of the postponement of the vote to March, the leader of the Authority backtracked after the protests of the Palestinian population and accusations of "betrayal" from Hamas.
The special session for a new discussion of the Goldstone report has the support of 18 countries that have backed the Palestinian demands. These include China, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Pakistan. If the report passes a majority, it will soon be discussed at the UN Security Council, forcing Israel and Hamas to answer charges of war crimes. The vote of the majority of the 47 Council members is necessary.
According to Palestinian sources, the front of countries opposed to the report, led by Israel and the United States, also includes Russia, China, Britain, Germany, Holland, Brazil and Canada. Favourable to the document are the Arab nations in addition to Pakistan and Nigeria. Among the undecided Norway, South Africa, France and Switzerland, but for the PNA the latter two countries, at the moment of the vote, will choose for the no front.
.png)
