tonight on "worldfocus" -- e united nations and says it will not investigate whether its military committed war crimes during the conflict in gaza last winter. we will interview a top israeli official. we'll take you to moscow where there are now signs that josef stalin is being rehabilitated. the granddaughter of nikita khrushchev weighs in on the controversy. and it's off to rome for part two of our "signature series," "preserving history." restoring ancient ruins is a noble goal, but who's going to pay for it? from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus."

made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. good evening. i'm daljit dhaliwal. yesterday we told you about a united nations investigation which found that both israel and hamas had committed war crimes during last winter's war in gaza. today, reaction to the report has been swift and it has been strong. united nations investigators are now callinupon israel and hamas to conduct their own independent inquiries into the allegations. if not, the team is recommending that the case be sent to an international war crimes

tribunal. israel has rejected that call, blasting the report as, quote, being conceived in sin. hamas isn't saying exactly what it plans to do. in tonight's lead focus jonathan miller of itn reports on the uproar. he filed his report late last night. >> reporter: the searing u.n. investigation pulls no punches and accuses both sides of committing actions amounting to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, too. the 22-day offensive in gaza that israel called "operation cast lead" killed 1400 palestinians and 13 israelis. hamas rockets from gaza constituted indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on israeli civilians, the u.n. fact finding mission concluded. israel, accused of directing its military operation at the people of gaza, of the direct targeting and arbitrary killing of

civilians, the wanton destruction of property. the former chief prosecutor from two u.n. criminal tribunals for the former yugoslavia and for rwanda led the four-man investigation mission. this afternoon in new york judge richard goldstone of south africa presented the findings of his 574-page report. >> there is strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law, both humanitarian and human rights law, were committed by israel during the military operatio in gaza. the mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly in some respects crimes against humanity were committed by the israel defense force. turning to the palestinian armed groups, there's no question that the firing of rockets and mortars was deliberate and calculated to cause loss of life

and injury to civilians and damage to civilian structures. the mission found that these actions also amount to serious war crimes and also possibly crimes against humanity. >> reporter: the bulk of the report focuses on alleged israeli defense force violations of international humanitarian law. it found that the incidents and patterns of evidence in the report were the result of deliberate planning and policy decisions. the report notes that these incidents indicate that the instructions given to the israeli forces moving into gaza provided for what it called a low threshold for the use of lethal fire against the civilian population. israel is accused of using palestinian civilians as human shields and of being systematically reckless in its use of white phosphorus shells in built-up areas. the effects on children who witnessed the killings and violence would be long-lasting, the u.n. mission found. it also found that hamas rockets

and mortar attacks which were incapable of being directed towards specific military targets caused terror in the affected communities of southern israel. tonight, hamas responded to the report saying that palestinian rockets were fired in self-defense. israel did not cooperate with the u.n. investigation. it's dismissed judge goldstone's findings as one-sided whitewash. >> the mandate of the commission prejudges on any conclusion before an investigation is even conducted. it already pre-establishes israel's guilt. >> reporter: judge goldstone recommends that the u.n. security council calls on both israel and the authorities in gaza to investigate possible war crimes. if this doesn't happen, he says, the situation in gaza should be referred to the prosecutor of the international criminal court in the hague. >> itn's jonathan miller reporting there.

and as you might imagine, the united nations report has been the talk today in israel and throughout the arab world. which brings us to tonight's "how they see it." much of the arab press focused on the allegations against israel while downplaying the actions of hamas. today's headline in the arab news and english language newspaper based in saudi arabia reads "israel committed war crimes in gaza." it isn't until later in the article that it gets to the allegations against hamas. in israel, the report was almost universally condemned. this headline in haaretz, one of israel's largest newspapers, summed up the feelings of many israelis. referring to the reaction of the former israeli president shimon peres. it reads "peres, u.n. gaza report makes mockery of history." the united nations report, while accusing both israel and hamas, singled out israel for particularly harsh criticism.

the israeli government refused to cooperate with the investigation, saying that the outcome was prejudged. joining us now for more on the israeli government's position is yossi peled, administer in the current government and a former general in the israeli army. welcome to "worldfocus." why won't israel investigate what happened in gaza? >> israel investigated in many ways what happened in gaza. what we think about this report of this committee is the first time that hamas get the -- by the mandate of this committee the first time that hamas get the kind of legitimate organization by mandate. secondly, in this report, nothing has been mentioned about seven, eight years the south part of israel was under attack by hamas shelling, rockets. >> well, the report does single out both the israeli government's actions and hamas,

but i wanted to ask you very specifically about the report accusing israel of -- and it says, deliberately targeting civilians and using palestinians as human shields. how do you respond to that? >> i try to respond. and i will try to do it again. israel was attacked the last seven years. the civilians along the israeli boarder in the south part was attacked by the hamas, the palestinians seven years. israel tried to do the best not to escalate the situation. but in 2006 we came into a situation that we cannot allow our citizens to continue to live such under attack when a group like hamas is using israeli moral limitation that we took on ourself not to respond many years, they translate it that they are able to do whatever they want. for example, the shelling on our citizens coming out from

palestinian schools. they did it because they were sure that we would not respond. why they were sure? because our moral limitations. but they push us to the corner, they push us to the point that we have the right and the obligation to protect ourselves. they act against civilians. because they act against civilians, i'm sorry, there are also palestinian civilians hurt by us. we didn't have another choice. we have to protect ourself. that's an obligation of the authorities in israel through the citizens along the border. >> what do you make of the findings of the report that israel has already said that they felt that it was prejudged? i mean, for our audience who doesn't understand what prejudged means, let's talk about that a little bit. what do you mean by it being prejudge >> for example, they should tell you that one of the member of this committee is a british professor to international law.

a few months ago, the professor, the british professor, this is one of the members of this committee, said israel has no right to defend themself. now, if somebody like that with such an opinion about israel is a member of this committee, what do you expect us to feel through such a committee? >> but do you also understand that by not investigating, that it possibly leaves the impression that israel has something to hide? >> israel has nothing to hide. israel has nothing to hide. i say it very clearly. we try. we have tried many years not to respond. many years. and we pay a price for it. the price is leave our citizens, our villages alone, the southern border under the attack of hamas. when we came to the point that we have to respond because we have the obligation to protect our civilians, our children, we have to act.

and we act, as i said, because the palestinians understood our moral limitation, they're attacking civilian areas. that's the reason that palestinians have been hurt. >> yossi peled, thank you very much for joining us on "worldfocus." >> thank you. we want to know what you think about the controversy. do you believe either israel, hamas or both committed war crimes in last winter's war in gaza? tell us what you think by visiting the "how you see it" section of our website at worldfocus.org. turning from the controversy in israel to one in afghanistan, the ongoing uncertainty over that country's presidential election. today afghan officials announced what they called the final preliminary vote count. it would give president karzai nearly 55% of the vote, enough for him to win the election outright over opposition candidate abdullah abdullah. however, a monitoring group is

still considering what to do about widespread allegations of fraud and could invalidate enough votes to force a runoff. closer to home, another sign that life is in some ways changing inside cuba. that country will now allow christian inmates to attend organized prison services. previously inmates were only allowed to worship individually. earlier a group of latin american catholic bishops had asked that inmates be allowed to celebrate mass together. in russia, an effort to restore a moscow train station has many people concerned that the project is also trying to restore the image of former dictator josef stalin. the restoration work includes a return of a quote praising

stalin which was removed back in the 1950s after his death. millions of russians are believed to have been killed during stalin's reign. scott bevan of abc australia's "lateline" program reports is it history or heresy? >> reporter: busy commuters in kurskaya metro station are being stopped in their tracks by a freshly painted name from the past. a name that still divides the nation. >> translator: he is a good person, a very nice person. who helped lots of people. >> everybody knows stalin was not -- not gentleman. >> reporter: josef stalin was the soviet's leader for a quarter of a century. this station was built during his rule, and as part of the lavish restoration of the 60-year-old building, a line from the national anthem of the time has reappeared in the entrance hall after being removed about half a century ago. "we were raised by stalin to be loyal to the people," it reads.

"he inspired our work and heroic deeds." >> i think it must be here because it's our history. >> not good for russians, not for russians, for not everyone in the world. >> reporter: those who have worked on the project say the restoration isn't meant to be political. >> translator: it's paying trkt tribute and showing respect to our forefathers. that's it. >> reporter: human rights groups are concerned that the restoration of stalin's name at this metro station feeds into a broader push to reinstate his image and helps paper over the pain inflicted by his regime on millions of russians. >> translator: the thing is history has become a measure of politics in russia. >> reporter: the memorial organization says it's not the metro station's face-lift but these faces that reflect stalin's era. victims of his terror campaigns. the human rights organization estimates 12 million were killed, imprisoned or actively repressed during stalin's rule. memorial has risen to moscow

mayor demanding the metro station inscription be removed immediately. >> translator: to me, it would be like installing hitler's name in a berlin metro station. it's just outrageous and insulting. >> reporter: the comparison between stalin and hitler was made in july by the parliamentary assembly of the organization for security and cooperation in europe. the assembly passed a resolution that condemned stalinism for its crimes against humanity and equated it with nazi germany. thatacklash in moscow and added fuel to a history debate that's been raging. president dmitry medvedev had already instituted a special commission to fight what he considers the rewriting of history, particularly anything that downplays the soviet union's role in defeating hitler's forces. to many russians, that's a high point in their country's past and remains a rallying point, particularly for politicians. >> translator: we really must treat our history with care, especially in regard to those

questions to which the whole world has already given an unequivocal answer. >> reporter: the moscow helsinki group has a view of the monumental stalinist building from her home and clear memories of what the soviet leader was like. >> i do believe he is the biggest criminal in all times in all nations. >> reporter: even bigger than hitler? >> he may be compared. he may be compared. >> reporter: while train travelers take in the words -- >> i think it's history. >> reporter: -- others say it's stalin's actions that shouldn't be forgotten to ensure what happened then never returns. scott bevan, "lateline." to talk about this issue in a bit more detail we're pleased to be joined once again by nina khrushcheva, she's the granddaughter of nikita khrushchev. welcome to the program. your grandfather is the one who

first condemned josef stalin, yet 50 years on what do you make of this continuing rehabilitation of stalin? >> stalin made russia great. he turned a peasant country, as the legend goes, into a great industrial nation. and russians who were after '91, after the collapse of commune nichl, felt very much unappreciated by everybody around them. they felt that they were the victims of history and all of a sudden president putin came back and brought that greatness back to russia. and his predecessor was allegedly josef stalin. we love him for that today. >> right. and his sort of enduring appeal for the average russian would be what? >> as i said, i mean, it's all about the russian greatness. russia is very big on its grandiose position in the world. it considers itself a separate civilization. and russians like to think of themselves this way. they believe with stalin and with putin today, they were brought back -- they now have

the world position they rightly, they believe, deserve. >> just recently, aleksandr solzhenitsyn's work "the gulag archipelago" has become part of the high school curriculum in russia. what do you think is behind that? >> i also think that this is part of this great appeal of russia is great because his history books, for example, praise josef stalin. you can imagine the kids coming out of -- the history books since 2006. the kids are coming out of the history lesson learning stalin was a great manaoviet state in the '30s and '40s and '50s. they go into the literature class where they read about the gulags and people perished and prosecuted. so i believe in some ways, it actually does not create -- ultimately doesn't create a culture of greatness but of a split personality disorder. because you really have to decide who your leaders are, whether they were murderers or

they were heroes. >> what does that tell us about the mind-set of the politicians and how the united states should try to relate to them in terms of resetting the reset button? >> the reset button, i mean, as always dealing with russia, on one hand, on the other hand, it's never a straight line. it's never a linear approach because i think the problem with the russians is that they really haven't decided what they are. in dostoevsky's words they haven't decided if they want beauty or progress. i think that is a problem in the russian approach to itself and also for the u.s. leaders. so my suggestion is just to talk on issues, to deal with separate issues rather than with a great russian sort of cultural monolith. rather than democracy, talk about democratic developments in certain areas. >> all right, nina khrushcheva, thank you very much. >> thank you.

and now to our "signature segment," part two of our series we call "preserving history." in moscow they may be debating what qualifies as history, but in rome they are debating how much history may be too much. rome, of course, is a city defined by its antiquities. places like the colosseum and the forum. but "worldfocus" special correspondent martin seemungal reports that the cost of maintaining it all has some romans worried it could end up breaking the bank. >> reporter: from one of the seven hills of rome, it's easy to see why it's called the eternal city. in the distance ruins of ancient buildings, of palaces of the caesars, over there the colosseum. and just around the bend in the tiber river st. peter's basilica. then there's the pantheon with

its spectacular opulence. everywhere medieval churches and renaissance buildings mixed with modern architecture. the central part of rome today is one big museum. it attracts millions of tourists a year. but the cost of preserving all this is astronomical. and maintenance, like the city, eternal. >> they want to finish the restoration or cleaning of one side of the monument, they already have to start on the other side. continuous job. >> reporter: it's angelo's job to make sure it gets done, but ask him if he's got the money to do it. "absolutely not," hesays. "we get some help from the state, but most of the money comes from selling tickets, and it's not enough," he says. tourists do pay to get into the forum, as the center of the ancient roman empire, it is a huge attraction. but most of the people who come here really don't know how lucky

they are. because the buildings around here are roughly 2500 years old, it's easy to think that it's always looked like this. well, it hasn't. it was only about 150 years ago that these buildings were excavated. after the fall of the roman empire, the forum was forgotten and slowly buried as the centuries passed and the city grew. archaeologists only started stripping away the layers in the 19th century. a piece of rome's past glory was finally revealed but this history professor thinks it's a miracle it survived after it was uncovered. >> we came in '69. you could drive a car near the church cross the way next to the arch and you could drive the car. the wall did not exist then. the road continued through here and then around the curve. and some years later they realized this was probably not wise for the preservation of the forum with the cars driving through.

>> reporter: the colosseum has survived through the ages because it's just so enormous. hard to bury something like this even though huge chunks of it were carted off as building material in the middle ages. but many significant monuments didn't survive. take the story of rome's pyramids. this one was built about 20 years before the birth of christ, but few people know there was another pyramid in rome and an even bigger one. and it was right about here. just down the road from the vatican. it was destroyed in 1500 by pope alexander vi. it says marble from that pyramid is now in the steps of st. peter's. later popes banned the destruction of ancient roman buildings. in recent years archaeologists have been turning up some amazing finds. two years ago clemmentine

antonella and her team uncovered a spectacular scepter almost certainly, she says, from the 3rd century roman emperor. "it's usually something we don't expect" she says. "i've been doing this for years and years, but every time we find something, it's an incredible emotion." but not everything gets to be seen by the public because there simply isn't enough money to preserve and display all the things the archaeologists are finding. more than once she's had to cover up her work. >> it's really devastating. >> these were originally the apartments in the winter of the vestal virgins themselves. >> reporter: russell scott, an american history professor, has been digging around in the forum for over 20 years and is just as frustrated. >> it's surprising what you may be able to find, but then the question is can anything be done to help preserve it, to treat it? and the answer here is there's no money for it.

>> reporter: covering things up again protects whatever has been exposed from pollution and the weather, but it means what you see here today is probably what you're going to get for a long time to come. physical reconstruction is just too expensive. but what about virtual reconstruction? this is a sophisticated computer model and the experts say it's pretty close to what the city looked like at the height of the roman empire. rome reborn it's called and now available on google earth. so you don't just fly over the colosseum, you fly into it. >> our model includes many of the interiors of the great public buildings and certainly of the colosseum. and the stairways and corridors and the underground chambers that you see behind me. >> reporter: it is hoped that tools like that from the digital world will generate interest and ultimately lead to more funding so that archaeologists can some day reveal and preserve more of the ancient world. for "worldfocus," i'm martin

seemungal in rome. and that is "worldfocus" for this wednesday evening. don't forget to tell us what you think by viting our website at worldfocus.org. i'm daljit dhaliwal in new york. from me and the rest of the "worldfocus" team, have a good night. good-bye. "worldfocus" is made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com