Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice.

Article 4. 1. Membership in the United Nations is

open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.

2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

In conformity with Article 12, paragraph 3 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Government of Palestine hereby recognizes the jurisdiction of the Court for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging the authors and accomplices of acts committed on the territory of Palestine since 1 July 2002.

This declaration ... will enter into force upon its signature. ... Signed in the Hague, the Netherlands, 21 January 2009

“If the General Assembly says they are an observer state, in accordance with the all-state formula, this should allow them . . . to be part of the International Criminal Court,” he told the Star. ... “We have the declaration, and we have been analyzing if they are a state,” he said. “Now the issue is before the UN, and whatever they decide, we will react to.”

Countries in favour: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia and Venezuela. Countries against: Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Abstentions: Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Rwanda, and Zambia.

Goldstone Report claims international law forbids arresting Hamas members,

requires public appointments for Hamas affiliates, and giving financial support to Hamas-affiliated

organizations

And there is a third security force that Gazans fear: Hamas' highly secretive Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the movement's armed resistance wing, which carries out violent attacks on Israel and whose members have a reputation for being some of Hamas' most steadfast adherents. Referring to both the uniformed police and the plainclothes Internal Security, one civilian says, "They're all Qassam." The government does little to deny it. "Many of the Qassam operate within both the Qassam brigades and the Internal Security," Interior Ministry spokesman Ehab al-Ghossain tells TIME. "In our laws, we do not prevent any resistance fighter from joining the police or a security service, provided that he is committed to the rules and regulations of the department he belongs to ... We make sure that their activities, outside of their official jobs, remain separate." Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2019151,00.html#ixzz16Hyyn6MJ

Gaza's Police Force: Between Hamas and a Hard Place By Abigail Hauslohner / Gaza City Friday, Sep. 17, 2010

“They’re all

[Izzedine al]

Qassam”

The mission finds that there is insufficient

information to conclude that the Gaza police as

a whole had been “incorporated” into the armed

forces of the Gaza authorities.

“Police officers received clear orders from the

leadership to face the enemy if the Gaza Strip

were to be invaded.”

Except for the statements of the police spokesperson, the

Israel Government has presented no other basis on which a

presumption can be made against the overall civilian nature

of the police in Gaza.

We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission … If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.

[T]he investigations published by the Israeli military and recognized in the U.N. committee’s report ... indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.

Aspersions cast on the findings of the report, nevertheless,

cannot be left unchallenged. Members of the mission,

signatories to this statement, find it necessary to dispel any

impression that subsequent developments have rendered any

part of the mission's report unsubstantiated, erroneous or

inaccurate.

Member states in UN

Muslim

• 56 member states of Organisation of the Islamic Conference

• 1 observer

Jewish

• 1 state

Votes in UN Human Rights Council

Total of All Country Censure Resolutions Adopted by

the UN Human Rights Council: 32 (of which 26 were

against Israel, and 6 for the rest of the world

combined) [updated: Sept. 2009]

Human rights groups argued Wednesday that a detailed probe into Hamas’s firing of Kassam rockets at Israeli communities is not necessary, because it constitutes such a “blatant” war crime. By contrast, Israel’s actions are more complex, and therefore do require such investigation, they said.

Café Hillel bombing, 2003

Dolphinarium bombing, 2001 Park Hotel Passover celebration bombing, 2002

Hebrew University bombing, 2002

Haifa bus bombing, 2001

Hamas militants are fighting in civilian clothes ….

Eight Hamas fighters dressed in civilian clothes …

At Shifa Hospital in Gaza … armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes roamed the halls.