ZCNSW official accompanies the mother of Hadar Goldin to U.N.
Zionist Council of NSW’s director of Israel Affairs, Arsen Ostrovsky has accompanied Israeli Leah Goldin, mother of captured IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, to the United Nations in Geneva.
Arsen Ostrovsky and Leah Goldin
Goldin gave a passionate address before the UN Human Rights Council, calling on the international community to take greater responsibility to help return her son.
This summer marked five years since Hadar was killed by Hamas during a UN ceasefire in Operation Protective Edge, with the Palestinian terror group continuing to hold him and the remains of another soldier, Oron Shaul, captive.
The Human Rights Council session in Geneva coincided with the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York, where world leaders and heads of state were gathering.
Speaking before the Council, Goldin said: “For five years Hamas is continuing to cruelly torment our family, with their inhumanity seemingly knowing no bounds.”
The late Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin (left) with his father, Simcha. Hadar was killed in an ambush during an internationally negotiated cease-fire on Aug. 1, 2014. Credit: Courtesy Goldin family.
Although the primary responsibility for Hadar’s release rests with Hamas, Goldin said there been a “paradigm shift” in the way her son’s case must be approached, in the wake of the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption this June of Resolution 2474, regarding the return of all persons reported missing in armed conflict.
Goldin: “We know beyond doubt Hamas does not abide by international law. However, for the first time, this Resolution shifts the burden of responsibility, by mandating that all nations have a duty to help return the remains of persons reported missing in armed conflict.”
Imploring the international community that Hadar’s release cannot be her or Israel’s alone, “but is a mission we all share,” Goldin concluded her powerful remarks to a packed room of diplomats and NGOs, by asking “as mothers and fathers, please imagine for just one moment if this was your son?”
Goldin travelled to Geneva as a guest of the leading non-governmental NGO ‘UN Watch’ and was accompanied by international human rights attorney and ZCNSW’s Director of Israel Affairs, Arsen Ostrovsky.
During her visit to Geneva, Goldin also met with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has repeatedly been denied access to Hadar, as well as holding a number of high-level bilateral meetings with various diplomatic Missions and senior officials, including with Australia’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sally Mansfield. Australia is currently a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
