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<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910224044179743.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910224044179743.html<br>
<br>
</a>Thursday, October 22, 2009 <br>
12:35 Mecca time, 09:35 GMT <br><br>
</font><font size=4><b>Goldstone dares US on Gaza report <br>
</b></font><font size=3> <br><br>
Richard Goldstone, the jurist who authored a UN report accusing Israel of
war crimes and crimes against humanity during its war on Gaza, has
challenged the US to justify its claims that his findings are flawed and
biased.<br>
<br>
Goldstone told Al Jazeera on Thursday that he had not heard from the
administration of Barack Obama, the US president, about the flaws
Washington claims to have identified in the report.<br><br>
"I have yet to hear from the Obama administration what the flaws in
the report that they have identified are. I would be happy to respond to
them, if and when I know what they are," Goldstone said.<br><br>
"The Obama administration joined our recommendation calling for full
and good-faith investigations, both in Israel and in Gaza [by Hamas], but
said that the report was flawed."<br><br>
<b>'Personal attack'<br><br>
</b>Goldstone said the attacks on him had become personal and that he
believed most critics had not even read the report.<br><br>
"I've no doubt, many of the critics - the overwhelmingly majority of
critics - have not read the report," he said.<br>
<br>
"And, you know, what proves that, I think, is that the level of
criticism does not go to the substance of the report.<br><br>
"There still have not been responses to the really serious
allegations that are made. People generally don't like to be accused of
criminal activity.<br><br>
"So it didn't surprise me that there was criticism, even strong
criticism, and it has come from both sides." <br><br>
Goldstone said he regretted the "extremes from which some of the
criticism has come and the fact that it has been so
personal".<br><br>
The remarks follow US criticism of the report, which it says is
one-sided.<br><br>
The US was among countries which voted against a UN human rights council
resolution on the report passed in Geneva by 25 votes to six with 11
countries abstaining.<br><br>
The Goldstone report also accuses Hamas, the Palestinian faction in
control of Gaza, of war crime violations, but it reserved most of its
criticism for Israel.<br><br>
Israel's three-week offensive on Gaza between last December and January
killed about 1,400 Palestinians, a majority of them women and children,
and 13 Israelis.<br><br>
Israel said it attacked the coastal territory to stop Hamas fighters
firing rockets into southern Israel.<br><br>
Source: Al Jazeera <br><br>
</font>VIDEO:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/2009102231620859900.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/2009102231620859900.html<br>
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