Abbas admits no one really read Goldstone, anyway

In an internal Fatah meeting where Mahmoud Abbas admits he postponed the Goldstone debate, he reveals something interesting:

President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday defended his decision to postpone debate on South African jurist Richard Goldstone's fact-finding mission on Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council last month.

Defending the PLO's deferment of the report last month, Abbas added, "When the Goldstone report was released, we agreed on it and welcomed it. Arab countries proposed a high-level resolution be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council that protects our rights, and it was opposed by Europe, the US, China, and Russia.

"Then, the US suggested a very low-level resolution which holds us responsible for the war on Gaza. Neither resolution was passed," he said. "It was necessary to find a compromise. We found that it would be better to defer discussion of the report."

The president added that the PA is not a full member of the council, "and we can't submit, or withdraw, or delay a proposal. Everybody was silenced. Then some began accusing us of erring. Who read the report, anyway? Those who were in Geneva didn't read the report, because it needed to be translated."

Abbas added, "Let’s assume we saw the report. Where did we err? Why do we say that? Everybody says we erred. Unfortunately, the fuss about the report started here in Palestine," referring to widespread Palestinian anger at the PA and PLO for what some, including high-ranking Hamas members, termed treasonous. "They said, this is your opportunity to attack them fiercely."

Although he didn't mean to, Abbas admits that the contents of the Goldstone report aren't what matters to Palestinian Arabs. The only important thing is that it can be used as a weapon against Israel, as both the PA and Hamas seized on it...before anyone read it.