The family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, the IDF officer killed and abducted by Hamas during a ‘humanitarian ceasefire’ on August 1, 2014, in the midst of Operation Protective Edge, protested Wednesday outside United Nations headquarters in Jerusalem to mark the fourth anniversary of his death and call upon the world body to facilitate the return of his remains.
Reading aloud a letter to Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and its representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority, Goldin’s mother Leah said he was not a victim of the war in Gaza, but rather a victim of the humanitarian ceasefire, brokered and sponsored by the United Nations.
“We, his remaining loved ones, demanding the right to perform the basic final act of human dignity, the right to proper burial, are not victims of the war in Gaza, but rather victims of the same humanitarian ceasefire – brokered and sponsored by the United Nations,” Leah Goldin said.
Hadar Goldin went missing on August 1, 2014 in an ambush by Hamas terrorists on Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip just hours into a United States and UN brokered ceasefire went into effect. Two days later he was declared dead; two other Israeli soldiers, Maj. Benaya Sarel and St.-Sgt. Liel Gidoni were killed in the attack.
Leah Goldin said that although then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had issued an official statement condemning the violation by Hamas of a mutually agreed humanitarian ceasefire, nothing has been done in the four years that have passed to bring about the return of her son’s remains and those of a second soldier missing in action, Sgt. Oron Shaul.
Addressing Mladenov, she said: “although you are deeply concerned with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, I have never heard you call for the return of Hadar to Israel for decent burial according to basic human decency, the Jewish tradition, Islamic Law and International Humanitarian Law.
“It is this connection that must be made if the humanitarian situation in Gaza is to improve. A regime that disregards the rule of law so blatantly must be held to account. Any parties that do not stand up to it are de facto aiding and abetting. The continued, defiant violation of the foundational principles evidences an abiding disregard, disrespect and denunciation of UN and EU values, institutions, and norms. This cannot be accepted.”
Goldin continued that the “rules based international order” is about compliance with international humanitarian law obligations and that as trustees of human rights and international humanitarian law, “all UN institutions and representatives have a responsibility to see that those legal obligations are respected and implemented.”
“In order to protect and uphold the law and UN institutions; in order to truly advance the cause of human rights in Gaza and in the region – it is imperative to bring Hadar home from Gaza immediately and unconditionally,” she concluded.
Written by TPS | Photo by Esty Dziubov/TPS