RAMALLAH, April 19, 2011 (WAFA) – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) denounced on Tuesday a US Congress bill demanding from the United Nations to cancel its report of the Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict 2008-2009, also known as the Goldstone report.

The PLO’s international relations department said in a press release that it considers the US position encouraging Israeli settlement policy and aggression against Palestinian civilians, which is against declared US position against killing of civilians around the world.

The bill calls on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make changes to the current structure of the Human Rights Council so it will not criticize Israel for committing war crimes.

The PLO said this bill legitimizes Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians under US cover.

It called on US President Barack Obama not to approve the bill due to its clear pro-Israel nature, which violates international law and neglect Palestinian rights. It also called for international protection of Palestinian civilians.

US Congress unanimously voted in favor of a bill that demands from the UN to cancel the Goldstone report. The bill came days after Judge Richard Goldstone, head of the fact-finding commission, published an article in which he backtracked from the report findings and said that had he known then what he knows now, the Goldstone report would have been a different document.

R.Q./M.A.