Is anyone ever going to do a pro-Goldstone event? Here’s a news release from Hofstra University about upcoming lectures by an Israeli journalist:
The Hofstra Cultural Center and Hofstra Hillel will present two lectures in March 2010 by one of Israel’s leading TV journalists Michael Tuchfeld. Mr. Tuchfeld is a political analyst and media consultant and host for Kol Israel – Israeli Broadcasting Authority. …
Wednesday, March 17, 8 p.m. “How Might The Goldstone Report Influence the War Against Terrorism?”
Was the Goldstone Report severely flawed and motivated by anti- Israel bias?
How would the report influence any future struggle against terrorism?
What should Israel do facing the danger of an international trial in the International Court of Justice in The Hague?
I’m sure it’s all hasbara. Here’s Tuchfeld, doing a Zionist Organization of America lecture last year or so.
Mondoweiss should do a pro-Goldstone conference and feature Finkelstein.
Exactly — an independent pro-Goldstone conference. It would draw people who actually think, as opposed to the legion of die-hard Israel-can-do-no-wrong bigots. It should be in New York, where Dershowitz will be sure to materialize to hurl slander and abuse. Hold it at the Judson Theatre on Washington Square Park.
Is it true that Richard Goldstone has a daughter who lives in Israel? Anyone else dreading how long before she turns up dead?
Folks, let us not deify Judge Richard Goldstone and overly laud the Goldstone Report. Goldstone, a staunch Zionist, was allowed to write the mandate for the report in which he insists on comparing the actions of the “occupied with those of the occupier and attributes the lion’s share of responsibility for the outbreak of the ‘war’ to the actions of the occupied– Hamas’ firing of rockets over the Gaza border into Israel,” according to Jennifer Loewenstein writing in the CounterPunch newsletter. She notes that “… Goldstone’s depiction of Israel’s assault on Gaza as exercising it’s legitimate ‘right to self-defense’ is entirely consistent with what both the U.S. and Israeli governmental and media spokespeople claimed from the beginning.” In other words, as damning to Israel as some feel the Goldstone Report is, it nonetheless falls far short of accurately condemning U.S./Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing, terrorism, blockade-of-mass-destruction, bombing of civilian infrastructure, and violent mass-murder. In short, part criticism, part apologetics.
When will Zionists see what they have become?
Keith,
The Goldstone Report is far from perfect, but its strength lies precisely in its application of mainstream human rights principles taken for granted in just about every case except that of Israel. Neither the report not it’s chief author can be accused of pro-Palestinian bias, yet it attempts to hold Israel to minimal international standards – which, if actually applied, would place Israel in a very difficult position and would be a huge step forward in halting or mitigating the humanitarian crisis of Israel’s making. Were the Report entirely objective, it would not have made Israel so nervous and Goldstone the target of such vicious attacks. It would have been dismissed (or ignored) by Israel with far greater ease.
Goldstone is a Zionist and a member of the western establishment. He is not a radical. But, he is also a man of integrity who knew what he was getting into and chose to follow his conscience (in Gaza as in South Africa). For that he deserves our respect and support – all the more so considering the absolutely incredible smear campaign being conducted against him. No deification necessary.
Shmuel is absolutely spot-on, as usual. Where would the current dialogue be if there wasn’t a Goldstone Report? What Keith said should have been in the document was outside the scope of Goldstone’s mandate, and would have attracted more enemies attempting to discredit its findings.
The more hysterical the caterwauling, the more desperate the hasbara — it ony amplifies the attention given to the war crimes committed in Gaza. Richard Goldstone is one of the most courageous men walking the face of the earth.
SHMUEL- I agree with most of what you say. The Goldstone Report helps shine a light on Israel’s criminality, and is probably the best we could hope for under the circumstances, particularly in view of Judge Goldstone’s Zionism. My point is that the report is seriously flawed, yet seemed to be getting unqualified praise on the Mondoweiss website. My intent was to call attention to these problems. By pure luck, Jerome Slater discusses this very issue today on the Dissident Voice website. I am going to quote two paragraphs, after which I will make an additional comment on Judge Goldstone.
“Silverstein does not discuss the Goldstone commission’s most crucial error: while its report courageously and persuasively labeled Israel’s methods in Gaza as “war crimes,” it failed to challenge the argument that however unjust its methods, Israel was exercising its legitimate right of self-defense when it attacked Gaza. Perhaps this was not so much an error as a policy decision, adopted by the Goldstone commission in the hope that this would somewhat diminish the predictable firestorm that would follow the publication of its report. However understandable such tactical and political considerations, the consequences have been grave.
Any discussion of Israeli policy and behavior towards the Palestinians should — must — start from the most important fact, which often, incredibly, seems to be overlooked: namely the Israeli occupation and the harsh repression that accompanies it. That is the central point, not the Palestinian methods of resistance.”
As for Judge Goldstone’s vaunted “integrity,” I think that it is highly overrated. I note that he served on the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia war crimes. The Tribunal was a victor’s kangaroo court which blamed the Serbs for the death and destruction in a civil war caused primarily by the U.S./German dismemberment of Yugoslavia for geo-strategic reasons. If there was any justice, Clinton and other NATO leaders would have been in the dock to answer for the war crime of aggression (for further discussion go to link to saskck.blogspot.com
). A fitting memento for Judge Goldstone would be a plaque made from some of the depleted uranium munitions used by NATO as they decimated the civilian infrastructure. As for the deification of Judge Goldstone, I think Oscar’s post inadvertently makes my point.
Phil, What do you think of the docudrama videos at www.goldstonefacts.org?
War against Terrorism? And who are the real terrorists? Two prominant Jew scholars, Chomsky and Finkestein believe they are the US and Israel. Even Amnesty International agrees with Dr. Finkelstein.
“There is no country in the world in which use of official and sustained torture is an established and documented as is in the case of Israel,” – Amnesty International.
Terrorism: Theirs and Ours
link to rehmat1.wordpress.com
FACEBOOK GROUP: Richard J. Goldstone: Integrity Personified</b
Category: Common Interest – Beliefs & Causes
Description: A group for individuals who respect Justice Goldstone and admire his integrity.
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LINK – link to facebook.com
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