Israel’s international isolation and vulnerability is several degrees deeper following the September 15 release of a United Nations war crimes report on the conduct of last winter’s Gaza war. How serious the damage will be depends in considerable measure on how Israel chooses to respond. Initial signs are not encouraging.
The report offers a 575-page mountain of closely documented, seemingly credible charges against Israel of “actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity” during its 22-day military campaign against Hamas. The mere publication of the document is certain to weaken Israel’s defenders in the ongoing Middle East war of words. More worrying to Jerusalem, the findings could enable diplomatic and legal actions against Israel and its leaders, up to and including criminal proceedings, further deepening Israeli isolation.
The report was produced by a four-member fact-finding commission appointed by the U.N.’s Geneva-based Human Rights Council and headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. The panel interviewed 188 persons and reviewed some 22,000 documents and photos. It also conducted its own on-the-ground forensic investigations, evident in the text, examining structural damage, blast patterns and more.
Israel refused to cooperate, answer questions or even permit the panel to enter Israel. And the report shows it, repeatedly citing a lack of Israeli evidence that hampers its findings. Israel’s demurral tilts the field toward the Palestinian case, with no Israeli rebuttal except what the investigators found in published Israeli documents.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry immediately dismissed the entire report as a biased screed that “writes a new and shameful chapter in the history of international law” and doesn’t merit a response.
This dismissive Israeli strategy has worked in the past. Countless reports have attacked Israel over the years, and while some have inflamed public opinion, none has resulted in concrete punishment. That’s been due partly to obvious bias among the accusers, and partly to diplomatic cover from Washington and other friendly powers.
Some critics are charging that Israel’s dismissal of the investigation amounts to a silent admission of guilt. That underestimates Israel’s deep suspicions of the U.N. and its affiliates, particularly the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, which has an egregious record of singling out Israel. Nor is Israel alone in its contempt for the rights panel. Even U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his predecessor, Kofi Annan, have publicly criticized its bias.
This report won’t be so easy to wave away, however. Whatever its sponsorship, it will ultimately be judged by its content. Despite the original, biased mandate from the Human Rights Council, Goldstone demanded and got a broader mandate to probe both Israeli and Palestinian conduct. Of 425 pages devoted to examining specific actions — as opposed to legal principles, investigators’ methods and recommendations — about 70 pages are devoted to Palestinian actions. They include rocket attacks on Israel, torture of domestic opponents and the fate of Gilad Shalit. Reading those pages, it’s clear that these portions would be lengthier and harsher if Israel had presented its own case or at least had let the panel enter Israel. But Israel didn’t, and it shot itself in the foot.
Some of Israel’s defenders further hurt their case by accusing Goldstone of ideological bias. The Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor claims Goldstone is tainted by his longstanding ties to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, which is accused by many of Israel’s supporters of anti-Israel bias.
But Goldstone isn’t an easy target. One of the world’s most respected war-crimes experts, he served as chief prosecutor of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. He’s also a leading figure in international Jewish affairs, past president of the World ORT Union and an honorary member of the board of governors of Hebrew University. His daughter Nicole, interviewed in fluent Hebrew on Israel Army Radio, insisted he agreed to lead the investigation partly to prevent an anti-Israel hatchet job.
The report offers detailed, convincing accounts of incidents that suggest serious Israeli wrongdoing. Israel is described as shelling hospitals and a U.N. refugee center, shooting Palestinians waving white flags and destroying civilian targets such as a chicken farm and a sewage treatment center. All these are depicted as avoidable if not deliberate.
The extent of the report’s damage to Israel will depend in large part on Israel’s response. The report details severe allegations of misconduct by Israeli forces. It also condemns aspects of Israel’s broader conduct in the territories, such as imprisoning Palestinian Authority legislators and blockading Hamas-ruled Gaza. The allegations are harsh, but they are specific, and so are the remedies Israel is called upon to undertake.
The report does not brand Israel a criminal or renegade state. It does not forbid Israel from acting to defend itself. Rather, it cites particular Israeli actions that appear to be illegal, and it calls for Israel to investigate and address its own actions. Only if Israel fails to act within a given time frame — the report suggests three months — is the U.N. urged to act, beginning with a referral to the International Criminal Court.
The actions demanded of Israel aren’t easy, but they’re not insuperable. Above all, Israel is called on to undertake a “credible” war-crimes investigation. The international court can’t to take a case unless the accused country has refused to investigate on its own. A “credible” investigation, it says, must be prompt and independent — not having the military investigate itself, as Israel has done.
Some Israeli analysts say Israel needn’t fear legal fallout. First, they note, U.N. adoption of this report would cast a long shadow over Russia’s anti-terrorist actions in Chechnya and America’s in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s a strong point, although international institutions have overcome such scruples in the past to condemn Israel and ignore worse offenders.
Analysts also say the international court won’t intervene because Israel never signed the treaty creating the court and therefore is outside its jurisdiction. That’s wrong. Yes, the court can intervene directly only in nations that signed the treaty. But other nations can be indicted, too, if the Security Council votes to refer the case. Washington would probably veto a Security Council action. Even so, the fallout from the report could still be severe. A wave of private lawsuits may follow in Britain, Spain and other countries that accept the doctrine of universal jurisdiction, or legal action against foreigners for crimes committed abroad.
Universal jurisdiction has already kept some Israeli officials from taking some important trips. So far, Israel’s top leaders haven’t fallen under a quarantine comparable to, say, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir. Now, however, that sort of isolation is a real threat.
Contact J.J. Goldberg at goldberg@forward.com and visit his blog.
"international institutions have overcome such scruples in the past to condemn Israel and ignore worse offenders"
This aside in fact encapsulates the invidious position in which Israel finds itself.
It's all very well to say that Israel shot itself in the foot by not cooperating with the Goldstone mission but the fact is that the alternative - granting legitimacy to an inherently biased inquiry spawned by a hostile organisation - would have left Israel naked before a conveyor belt of condemnatory resolutions in the years to come.
Goldstone may indeed have rationalised his participation by wanting to prevent an anti-Israel hatchet job but we all are guilty of finding the best possible reasons for justifying our stupidest mistakes. And, it has been said, the greatest people do make the greatest mistakes. His rationale strikes me as being like a cook wanting to make steak in cream sauce for a Jewish friend: "If only I add a bit of water to the cream it won't be so milky and, therefore, won't be so difficult for my kosher pal to swallow."
In an ideal world Israel would - and should - have an independent investigation into the military's conduct in Gaza. But do you really need to be reminded that this is not an ideal world? Israel is fighting an existential battle in an imperfect way. But one only has to compare the way it defends itself with the way other countries wage wars in which they have no immediate existential self-interest (Chechnya and Iraq are good examples) to see that Israel does so in a way that strives for, and generally achieves, standards worthy of emulation. To then compel this little country to hand its many enemies propaganda on a plate would be far worse than shooting itself in the foot. It would be like handing an abusive husband a meat cleaver.
Frank,
Perhaps if you attack Israel's critics vitriolically enough, people will excuse you for never making aliyah yourself.
Stefan,
Concealing reality is never a winning strategy. No matter what fraction of Israel's Gazan-atrocities were unintended and unavoidable, they were all tragic. This is the reason that we are given the Torah to promote peace and one more of the many reasons that Israel must stop stalling about negotiating a two-state peace treaty.
I think it was Rabbi Hillel who said "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you".
It's interesting to follow the efforts of Turkey these days trying to mediate neighborhood difficulties, but one wonders about Israel.
Given the obvious threat every one of Israel's neighbors are under, not just from Israel's very effective defensive and offensive capabilities, without considering the immediate backup we provide, where is the benefit for Israel not to make peace magnanimously?
Aggressive, domineering colonialism is very difficult, like capitalism with unfair labor practices, and goon squads. Guaranteed it is followed by hateful reactions. So why not come out for more fairness and openness?
Ariel Sharon used to like to draw the comparison of the impact of terrorism and what it would be like, to bring it home to us, if a number of Americans were killed proportional, population wise, to the numbers of Israelis killed by terrorists, and of course it would be a big number.
To me, it's reasonable to consider the impact emotionally on a country, city, or territory of these kind of figures. So, in line with these feelings and Rabbi Hillel's dictum, I thought it might be instructive to look at Gaza.
In the Gaza operation 1,400 Gazans died. Proportional to their 2006 population of 404,000. that's 0.35%. If a comparable proportionate number of Jews in Israel had died, the number would have been 19,250 Jews! And similarly, to bring it home to Americans, more than one million of us would have been killed! That's more than 370 times the number of people who were killed in the World Trade Center!
It seems quite ironic that the people who brought the world to it's current sensitivity about genocide should be seen as a country which thinks and acts cavalierly where the lives of others are concerned, and I know that is not the true reflection of the ideas of Jewish people.
To the contrary, the "signs are encouraging":
Ayalon said: "The Goldstone Report should be treated like the UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism, thus we must mobilize and act with all force against the report in order to remove it".
So, lets see the "Jewish" Forward reverse course and "act with all force against the (so-called) report"! Fat chance!
I wish to report to the Goldstone commission that 3 cats disappeared under suspicious circumstances near a restaurant in Gaza city
Don't feel bad Frank when i mentioned in another article that HRW sends emissaries to the Saudis for large donations from Saudi citizens.I was deleted.They are similar to Ha'aretz they only want to hear echoes of their articls
It is very important to keep in mind that the wording of the resolution establishing the fact-finding UN commission prejudged the outcome of any investigation, by stating that violations of humanitarian law had been committed by Israel. Also, one of the members of the commission, Professor Christine Chinkin, signed a letter, published in the Sunday Times on 11 January 2009, stating that Israel's bombardment of Gaza was a war crime – before any investigation had begun. In view of that, there is no surprise in the findings of the commission.
Reputable sources have stated that Goldstone ignored and even slept through the presentations of Israeli victims of Arab rocket attacks in Sderot. This article ignores a basic and undeniable fact-war is hell. If the US fought the Civil War under Goldstone's principles, to paraphrase George Will, Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Farragut would have been tried as war criminals and the US would still have slavery.
I see what the critics of the forward mean. I didn't take long for my last post to disappear. It's getting to be easier to get something to an editor of an Israeli newspaper Published than many US newspapers. Of course, I never look at Ha'aretz, so I can't speak for them.
Goldtein, Goldtone, gold. He is all about gold and fame and controversy.He succeded with his name change, controversial attitude and infamous anti-Israel bias. He has tarnished his imaged amonsgt his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. May he rest in peace...
Since, as far as i can make out, there is no longer nationalism nor int'l laws, it appears unlikely that the world plutocrats- united like never before for an ad hoc cause or cosa nostra- will ever allow prosecution of their servants such as peres, barak, or ashkenazi.
There is no longer amerika nor israel:ergo, no more amerikans, englishpeople, israelis, colombians, et al.
Plutocrats in US [everywhere also] had always been fiercely interdependent or a cosa nostra gang much like a biker, street, or mafioso org. In short, cosa nostra for "thems" guyz and cosas mias for the rest of us. And guess whose cosa prevails every time?
Israelis are led dwn the garden path. To think that world plutos wld in any way favor israeli servile cannon fodder over any other serfs, wld be a mistake. Plutocrats have own god:moneysm/utter control! tnx
NGO Report's video:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1194419829128&pagename=JPost%2FPage%2FVideoPlayer&videoId=1251804588062
Read NGO Monitor's critique: "Goldstone Report: 575 pages of NGO “cut and paste”.
http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/goldstone_report_pages_of_ngo_cut_and_paste_
NGO Watch eviscerates any pretext of Goldstone not having a strong anti-Israel bias:
http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/the_goldstone_gaza_fact_finding_committee_and_the_lund_london_guidelines_
Why not be done with it, and have the matter "investigated" by Joseph Goebbles, and "judged" by the Volksgerichtshof?
Here is an uplifting quick video of Former Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and ambassador Moshe Arens, on the issue: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133494
My friend, Frank.
I see how deep you are concerned, what have you done within your self to keep this wrong of sin out of you? Remember Frank, my friend, one sin brought death to all of mankind.
Have we power over G-D? Do you not see it is G-D that is at war with all of mankind. And why this war---our sins.
In this world G-D has placed his chieftens over all the nations. G-D is in control.
My friend, it is your choice, turn, and put sin out. For dust to dust ashes to ashes, and Spirit to spirit. For this it is written....Job 33 The Spirit of G-D made me, (below, flesh, death) but the breath of the Almighty gives me life.( above, spirit, everlasting life)
We need my friend, to turn, having been birth from both sides of G-D, above and below. When we turn, we become that mirror image we were to be made in before sin brought death.
Frank, my friend, remember the two sided law G-D gave Moses and was broken by all our generations. If we had accepted it sin would not be here now. Let me help you, my friend, those who give a free will offering of their will to do the will of G-D in all they do, move in the direction of the hidden part. For it is written...Psalm 51 the desire G-D wants on our heart and minds. Please read.
Ps. 51.....Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: (heart and mind) .....and in the hidden part thou shall make me to know wisdom.
The hidden part, is the rock, the mountain of the LORD, the capstone, our temple that G-D is building that flesh can not enter in. Flesh has been defiled with sin, G-D house will not be defiled. The house of bread, the tree from the garden, flesh shall not eat of it, nor touch it.
These are those who wills are not turned.....for it is written....Jeremiah 31.....But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those day-s, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their G-D, and they shall be my people.
My friend, be my brother, and enter in what is asked of us in Ps. 51, take off the hate, and light the desire of your heart from the burning desire G-D'S heart. Isaiah 26...Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
Remember this.....for it is written....Psalm 44....Through You we push back our enemies; through Your name we trample our foes.
My friend, ...May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the G-D of Jacob protect you. Ps. 20 The god of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
For it is written....Psalm 140..O G-D, the LORD, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.
Another reader posted this some time ago:
.......
From Darren
Forward-speak glossary Understanding the subtext
Hard right = pro-israel
Hard liner = one who asserts basic human rights for Jews
Progressive = a person or organization that is hypercritical of Israel and represents Palestinain mythology as ideology
"As a Jew..." - opening words to anti-israel article
Liberal = extremist
Moderate = liberal
Right-leaning = moderate
Extremist = right winger
Ultra orthodox = orthodox
.....
LOL!
I'm not Israeli or Jewish, and have just stumbled across this JJ Goldberg piece and the various comments. I thought the article was very fair, at a time when many (whether those that support the Government of Israel or those that oppose it) are mis-representing the Goldstone report.
Some of the comments point out that Israel has a right to self defense and that war is never easy - absolutely correct. Israel's right to self defence exists because of international law which enshrines the principle - it is a principle that must be enforced and Israel and Israelis must be protected. However, what these commentators do not mention is that the same international law also says that all States have obligations to protect civilians and these obligations are not over-turned by a right to self defence. The commentators that claim a right to self defence but who deny the legal obligations that accompany the legal rights are making poor and inconsistent arguments. The laws of war are designed precisely for the sort of situation where, for some reason, there is an imperative to conduct war but civilians are caught in the middle. The Goldstone report analyses each case in the light of such law.
Those that say the report is biased should look more carefully at the composition of the team. The original mandate from the Human Rights Council was indeed terribly biased. The Council spent three months trying to find credible people to lead the investigation, but everyone they approached refused to do so - the New York Times reported that Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson both declined for that reason. When they approached Goldstone he said he would do it only on the condition that the mandate was broadened to eliminate the built-in bias. It was only after the Council agreed to broaden the mandate that it was able to get good people to join the effort.
This report is very similar in its conclusions to many others produced at the UN. Some would say that this just proves the UN is biased. Not true, in my opinion. Some Governments at the UN are certainly biased against Israel - they are the ones that vote for mandates and resolutions against Israel that are imbalanced. However, the reports (such as the Goldstone report) are not prepared by Governments. The reports are produced independently by people working as UN staff, such as Goldstone and his team, all of whom are selected because of their professionalism, expertise and lack of bias. If you look at the consistency of all these reports, by a wide range of highly trained and non-biased people, over several years, what emerges are serious concerns regarding respect for international law in the region.
The Middle East is riven by misunderstandings, fear, hatred, and anger. Although I am not israeli and not Jewish it would bring me immense joy to see Israel at peace, without its youth having to do military service, with children being able to go to schools without bomb shelters, with Israelis and Palestinians mixing freely and enjoying the best of each other's cultures which have so much shared history. If all sides were to investigate the Goldstone allegations and make genuine efforts to prosecute and to prevent them from recurring, surely this would be a step in the direction toward peace? To instead shoot down this report with spurious claims of bias and refuse to consider its content is, it seems to me, just another way of weakening Israel and making Israel less safe in the long-term.
Not once any of the commentators above brought up the main reason we all should step back and reassess our emotions from only one persepctive: Israel is threatened by the entire Muslim world that has the ultimate aim to wipe it off the face of this planet. At any cost, whatever or how long it takes. No other state faces he same threat. Diplomacy, compromises, agreements, this and other UN 'reports' - all used by Israel's enemies as merely steps towards their ultimate goals. How can you judge Israel when it constantly faces such an enormous, unbearable threat? Are you sure you would be able to make all the right decisions, take all the right steps when you and your children face annihilation the moment you let your guard down? Israel is so alone in the world, and we keep arguing and doubting it's right to defend itself the best way they can.
This is a response to Allie's comment (Tuesday 22 Sept):
Allie - people like Ahmedinejad, Bin Laden and others have made the most horrendous statements targeting Israel that should be given the most serious attention. Absolutely. However, you say "Israel is threatened by the entire Muslim world that has the ultimate aim to wipe it off the face of this planet." I think statements like this are hamrful because they do paint the situation as one which is black and white and it is black and white arguments that are used to support (what I believe are) extreme positions on all sides.
It is incorrect to say that "Israel is threatened by the entire Muslim world". Syria, for example, can be rightly counted as having a Government that has financed terrorism against Israel. But in Damascus there is a section in the middle of the city which is especially noted for its Jewish and Christian communities. The same can be said for Cairo in Egypt. Jordan, another moslem country, has long had a peace agreement with Israel, and both Jordan and Egypt are major proponents of peace with Israel. Egypt has put a lot of effort into stopping Hamas get rockets into Gaza. Most Palestinians say they would be happy to have Israel as a neighbor if they could have their freedom of movement and access to their land in an environment of peace. And these are just a few examples. There are Araba nd moslem human rights organziations that work very hard to promote the human rights of both arabs and Israelis, just as there are Israeli human rights organizations that do the same for Arabs and Israelis.
All to say that, in my opinion, broad statements of the type that you make here are inaccurate and are used primarily by those that want to justify extreme positions. These are the same as the arguments used by Hamas in Gaza. Fatah was telling Palestinians that the best way forward was to negotiate and make concessions. Hamas was telling people that Israel's goal was to eliminate all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza forever and that (to paraphrase you) "Israel ... has the ultimate aim to wipe it [Palestine] off the face of this planet." Hamas said that Fatah had been negotiating for years and had got nothing and that the only language Israel would understand was extremist positions and force. People in Gaza, fed up with Fatah, ended up voting for Hamas. Hamas is an awful organization that is responsible for a huge range of crimes, but this is how they managed to win an election. My apologies for taking your words and attributing them to Hamas, but I just wanted to illustrate my point.
Neb,
Of course, you left me speechless, but I have to accept your apology since you do understand inapproriateness of your comparisons. You are most likely a very nice person but we all should wish people were all like you. Majority aren't. And it is dangerous to forget hisory lessons - they have the tendency to repeat. Words in the Middle East are cheap. And huma rights organizations so far have not gained much of the ground in the Muslim world. My deepest wish for all of our sake to be wrong. However, I come from a well-grounded stock of true survivors, those whose hearts were hardened, who did not expect much from oters, and had no illusions about humanity. I know that you might consider this to be a detriment. But their lessons should teach us not to become complacent, not only to believe our hearts, but find the courage to see the things they way they are, notthe way we would like them to be. In another word, we need to shed the idealism so imbedded in Jewish minds.
and I apologize to all for the missed letters, misspelled at times words - I have no time to edit and my keyboard is old with some of the keys not sensitive to my typing. Sorry again.
The UN Human Rights Council may be anti-Israel, but Judge Goldstone is a reputable jurist, apparently a practising Jew, a governor of Hebrew University. Israel really should have spoken to him. He can't use evidence he hasn't been given. After Lebanon, Israel appointed a senior judge to investigate and report. Why did Israel refuse to do the same now? Olmert and Livni would have probably cooperated and produced a less one-sided result.
Allie - thanks for your heartfelt response. Survivors, no matter what their thinking, always have things to teach others, as you say. Inevitably, discussions like this (including my own comments) will end up overly simplifying situations which are actually far more complex. I think, if I wanted to make a single point, it would be (along the lines of Joe, above) to say that it would surely be in the interest of Israel, of Palestinians, and of long-term peace, for the Goldstone report to be taken seriously, and for there to be genuine investigations and, if required prosecutions. In the absence of the appearance of justice, anger and resentment will continue to pile up. I've met Judge Goldstone and i've been to Israel and to the West Bank and to Gaza. The lack of mutual understanding in all three places is appalling. Aside from whether or not actual crimes were committed, the gulf of understanding and the perceptions among people on all sides are having a huge influence on actions being taken. I think that justice can only help. Sorry again for using your words and imagining them in the mouths of others.
Here's some help for any "Jewish" publication that wants to "throw he gauntlet back" in the libelers' faces:
Goldstone Commissioner Suggests Israelis Conditioned to Kill Children
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1733
frank your camera.org post is mind boggling and extremly informative, and a must read for all jews who are stil of the mind that the goldstone commision report is unbiased and factual.. that theythe commisioners can listen to such abject falshoods and nonsence without raising any objections is amaizing. .
I'd definately prefer being a Jew in Poland or Germany to being a Black in the US or a Palestinian in Israel. Rather obvious, nicht wahr?
Frank, based on some of what you have written above, I would consider you to be anti-Israel. So much of what you advocate has been the basis for strife in the Middle East for Palestinians and Israelis for decades. The kind of things you seem to support would destin both people's to decades more of the same. Obama, and others, are prepared to stand up for Israel and its safety (I count myself in that group).
For anyone trying to figure out what "Frank" said, here it is (the virulent anti-Israel Forward can't stand the light):
How is this "report" any different than the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"? Third hand terrorist lies should never be published. This piece of garbage needs to be publicly confronted as the libelous enemy of the Jewish people that he is. Goldberg, for "reporting" that it contains "seemingly credible charges", should be called out for what he is - an anti-Israel propagandist. The tactic of giving any credence to the absurd fig leaf of the "report" having criticized the obviously obscene muslim barbarians of Hamas, in order to provide a pretext for being "fair", is a stupid ruse. The author has as much credibility as Jimmy Carter. Only a committed Israel-hater, like the "Jewish" Forward, would argue that this report has any more significance than soiled toilet paper. An actual "Jewish" publication would shred it and publicly denounce its vile authors.
While antisemitic posts by "Norman" post remain on a faux-Jewish publicaation:
As usual, the extreme far-left anti-Israel "Jewish" Forward sides with the most virulent enemies of Israel. This "report" is an (expected) anti-Semitic obscenity, a libel created by avowed enemies of the Jewish State of Israel. The tone and content of Goldberg's article on Goldstone is exactly what one would expect from the Forward.
.....
J’accuse!
I accuse the Forward of being a virulent extreme left anti-Israel propagandist, allied with the enemies of the Jewish State of Israel and the Jewish people, like George Soros and arab funded J Street.
I accuse the Forward of seeking to weaken American Jewish support for the Jewish State of Israel, and to weaken American support for Israel.
I accuse the Forward of playing leftist parochial "progressive" political games with Israel's safety.
I accuse the Forward of refusing to decry the most anti-Israel president in history, of refusing to stand up for Israel when it is attacked and demonized, of refusing to stand up for Israel when Iran is on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon with which to incinerate Israel and cause a second Holocaust.
I accuse the Forward of publishing every virulent anti-Israel crackpot, of repeating every anti-Israel libel, of being Israel's enemy in America.
....
You will see the most vile anti-Israel/anti-Semitic comments remain on this web site. Let's see how long before this comment is deleted by the anti-Israel Forward.
see the new "Editorial" titled "Forgive Us" presumes to lecture that Jews who abhor the vile anti-Israel propaganda spewed by extremist far-left "Jews", should not "delegitimize or even demonize other Jews for expressing heartfelt but challenging opinions."
To the contrary, the anti-Israel propaganda published by "Jewish" enemies of the Jewish people needs to be confronted and "delegitimized", for it is not "legitimate", and more importantly, it is dangerous to the survival and well-being of the Jewish people, and a complete disregard of the "social compact."
There are aggressive enemies of the Jewish people, such as George Soros and arab funded J Street (supported by the Forward) whose primary goal is to weaken and destroy American Jews' and America's support for Israel.
Save us the cynical moralizing, and stop deleting the opinions that challenge that evil. "Incivility" is the least of our concerns when confronting evil, but it is certainly not "civil" to censor.
Its no "guantlet", its just a libel:
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SEPTEMBER 25, 2009
At the U.N., Terrorism Pays
It was my duty as defense minister to stop Hamas rockets.
By EHUD BARAK
This week the United Nation's Human Rights Council produced a 600-page report alleging that Israel carried out war crimes in Gaza. The Goldstone Report—named for its chief investigator Richard Goldstone—also asserts that Israel's motives for its operation against Hamas nine months ago were purely political. I am outraged by these accusations. Let me explain why.
It is the duty of every nation to defend itself. This is a basic obligation that all responsible governments owe their citizens. Israel is no different.
After enduring eight years of ongoing rocket fire—in which 12,000 missiles were launched against our cities, and after all diplomatic efforts to stop this barrage failed—it was my duty as defense minister to do something about it. It's as simple and self-evident as the right to self-defense.
While such logic eluded Mr. Goldstone and his team, it was crystal clear to the thousands of Israeli children living in southern Israel who had to study, play, eat and sleep while being preoccupied about the distance to the nearest bomb shelter. When I accompanied then-presidential candidate Barack Obama on his visit to the shelled city of Sderot, he said "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." Too bad the Human Rights Council wasn't listening.
Whenever we are forced to defend our own lives, it is our obligation to do so in a way that ensures that the lives of innocent civilians on the other side are protected. This duty becomes extremely difficult when we have to face an enemy that intentionally deploys its forces in densely populated areas, stores its explosives in private homes, and launches rockets from crowded school yards and mosques. In Gaza, we reached out to the civilians via millions of leaflets, telephone calls and text messages urging them to leave areas before we acted.
So when the Goldstone mission gathers testimony from local residents in Hamas-ruled Gaza, but forgets to ask them whether they happened to notice any armed Palestinians during the Israeli operation, or didn't realize that its impartially chosen witnesses happened to be known Hamas operatives according to Israeli intelligence, I begin to question the methodology of such a "fact-finding" effort.
Although I am incensed by the Goldstone Report, I must admit that I was not surprised. It is, more than anything else, a political statement—not a legal analysis.
This shameful document was produced by the Human Rights Council, a body whose obsession with Israel has led it to produce more resolutions condemning Israel than all other countries combined. By its lights, the evils of Israel far outweigh those of countries like Burma, Sudan and North Korea.
In its blind zeal to demonize Israel, the council has produced a document that undermines every other democracy struggling to defend itself against terrorism. The message broadcast by this report to the new world order? Terrorism pays.
Yet, an accusation, however ludicrous, is still an accusation, and it mustn't remain unanswered.
If the U.N. or anyone else has complaints, they should direct them towards the Israeli government. I have in-depth knowledge about the extent of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) efforts to reduce civilian casualties, and I am convinced that the actions our government took are equal to or exceed actions taken by the armed forces of any other democratic nation. Strikes against extremely valuable Hamas targets were aborted in mid-operation due to the unexpected presence of civilians.
Hundreds of thousands of warnings of impending IDF activity were provided to the population by leaflet, radio, telephone and text messages. Humanitarian supplies were allowed to flow into Gaza despite the fact that Hamas shelled the convoys and confiscated the aid they carried.
Israel is not perfect. As much as we as a society try to uphold the IDF's ethical code, mistakes sometimes happen and deviations from procedure occur. Whether we like it or not, Israel is one of the most scrutinized countries in the world. And when we are told that things may not be right, we check it out and, when necessary, prosecute those involved. We are now pursuing two dozen criminal investigations regarding events that occurred in Gaza. We don't need the Human Rights Council, Richard Goldstone, or anyone else to teach us how to maintain the democratic principles which are our lifeblood.
As sobering as the thought may be, terrorists will welcome this report. It has made their work much easier, and the work of their potential victims more difficult.
I believe that the time has come for us to put an end to this calculated erosion of common sense. The nations that share democratic values must not allow themselves to be handcuffed by the abusive application of lofty ideals. Democracies should be concentrating on defending themselves from extremism—not from accusations by kangaroo courts.
Mr. Barak is Israel's defense minister.
Video of Bibi's U.N. Speech evicerates Goldston's UN farce:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/09/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahus-un-speechbut-to-those-who-gave-this-holocaustdenier-a-hea.html
The entirety of Bibi's U.N. Speech evicerating Goldsone's Nazi libel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5mmCshkaN0
American Jews have been utterly betrayed by Barak Obama. He LIED to Jews when he purposely went to AIPAC and pronounced:
"I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO PREVENT IRAN FROM OBTAINING A NUCLEAR WEAPON. EVERYTHING IN MY POWER. EVERYTHING."
American Jews voted for him. Now they should demand that he do what he promised American Jews, and stop Iran.
It is the 1930's and there is nothing more important than to stop the new muslim Nazis. If the U.S. has an alliance with Israel, if it wishes to prevent its destruction, the time is now. It is "in (Obama's) power to do so! The U.S. is the superpower, which can readily, effectively, completely obliterate Iran's nuclear weapons facilities. Contact your representatives! Rally for Israel's survival!
Jews should demand that Obama fulfill his unequivocal public commitment to them, and BOMB IRAN!
This is the Jewish misfortune to be on the side of our enemies.The rediculous justifications of Goldshtein`s report`s recognitions of Israel`s right to defence...The slavish spirit of some diaspora Jews is dangerous menace to Israel
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