Gazamom blogger, and Goldstone Report contributor, Laila El-Haddad responds to the Goldstone's reconsideration with a Baltimore Sun Op-Ed "Palestinians betrayed by Judge Goldstone":
The Goldstone Report meant to accomplish accountability, reporting not only on the destruction and massacres committed during the Gaza attack but calling for an examination of the intent of senior leaders and for action against perpetrators of war crimes.
But Judge Goldstone's op-ed is an affront to the rights of victims, both Palestinian and Israeli, and our desire — our right — to truth and justice.
Palestinians feel abandoned by Judge Goldstone. Here is a leading advocate for human rights giving every impression of deserting a civilian and refugee population — particularly the Samouni family, which lost 29 members over several terrifying days, but also Palestinians like Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, who was present when three daughters and a niece were killed by Israeli shelling.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to operate with complete impunity, killing 19 Palestinians in Gaza earlier this month. On Jan. 10, they shot dead a 65-year-old farmer tending to his land along Gaza's border — a repeat of an incident I reported in September, when Israeli forces killed a 92-year-old shepherd, his 14-year-old grandson and his 17-year-old friend with a series of artillery shells, even though they were clearly visible (by the army's own admission days later).
It merits reminding that the Goldstone Report had many other damning conclusions, including finding that the ongoing blockade of Gaza constitutes a violation of Israel's obligations as an occupying power. The blockade deprives Palestinians of their most basic freedoms: freedom to build, to move in and out of one's home to the rest of the occupied Palestinian Territories or to the world, to fish more than three miles out to sea, to marry who you want and live where you want, to study, to read, to farm, to build, to live, to prosper. It dysfunctionalizes life and cripples livelihoods.
There has been plenty written in the past two weeks about Judge Goldstone. Some say he buckled under pressure after being ostracized from the Jewish community. Some say he had a change of mind and others that he actually did not retract much.
One thing is certain: Though Judge Goldstone's opinion may have changed on the deliberateness of Israel's killings, the facts on the ground and the eyewitness testimonies one hears on every corner of the Gaza Strip have not. They are the greatest evidence.
The need to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and to implement the recommendations of the Goldstone Report have never been more salient. To quote Judge Goldstone himself, "the debate should continue, not attempt to be silenced."
I think Goldstone will be the last Jew asked to investigate Israel on behalf of the UN.
Why? Because Jews can’t be trusted? Are you going to break the news to Philip, Adam, Mooser and Danaa or should I?
Or maybe you misspoke and meant “Zionist” instead of “Jew”, I’ve heard that happens sometimes.
gf, why ask a question of another if you are going to answer it in the next breath for the purpose of asking another based on your own answer!
I can`t see Mooser being asked to do anything with Israel. The Thugs destroyed Goldstone`s career. Israel is now too toxic for Jews with career plans.
It would be difficult to tell apart Zionists from Jews. So perhaps the best the United Nations can do is include in their job application the question: “Is ethnic cleansing ever justified?” If the applicant answers, “Currently, ethnic cleansing is not necessary”, then you know he is a Zionist, perhaps even a liberal Zionist.
GF
Why? Because Jews can’t be trusted?
Yeah, I’ll take the bait. The answer is yes with respect to future UN inquiries of Israel. Absolutely. When one prominent Jew like Goldstone who operates in the international arena, and had such a previously sterling international reputation, falls on his sword for Israel, the aggressor in the war he’s asked to investigate, and does it in an op-ed without consulting his fellow participants, yes, he will be the last Jew asked to investigate Israel. If a man of his stature, and in his 70s, cannot stand the pressure after his decades-long career, it will be assumed that no Jew can withstand the pressure.
Most importantly, no one at the UN will want to take a chance on a repeat, and if they did, they would be completely irresponsible. Especially after the other participants in the original report were forced to issue statements that called Goldstone’s op-ed statements into question.
So seafoid’s right.
The name of the game is consequences, and like it or not, they supersede ethnicity, religion, nationality, and any other “ity.”
Substitute American for Jew in this argument, and it would be the same thing.
Imagine if it were The Baker Report. James Baker was asked by the UN to head up an investigation of the War in Iraq and he promised to be fair. (I couldn’t think of a Republican US Judge…OK…make it The Scalia Report, if you like.)
Mr. Baker/Scalia conducts his investigations with counterparts from France, Germany, and Sweden. The report is detailed and blistering, plain-speaking. 500 pages long, saying Bush and Cheney lied, it was a neocon fait accompli, there were no WMDs and they knew it, they manufactured the yellowcake, they did this, they did that, Rumsfeld was in it up to his neck, etc etc etc. War crimes, war crimes, and more war crimes.
The US erupts. It trashes Baker/Scalia as a traitor. It hauls its collective ass to the UN to get the report nullified. It refuses to cooperate, and writes articles ad nauseum in whatever dead-tree oracles are still left about how Baker/Scalia is senile. It gets the ex-President to have Baker shunned throughout Dallas society, or wherever it is they all live. Cheney goes on Sunday Morning TV and snarls personal details about Baker’s personal life, mainly that he has no dick….or, if you’re choosing The Scalia Report, it works to get term-limits for Supreme Court judges, especially Italian ones, like now. The works.
Then, 22 months later Mr. Baker/Scalia goes to the Sunday Times in London and does a mea culpa without telling his French, German, and Swedish counterparts about maybe perhaps US “intentionality.” The US is so heel-happy, it does a skip and a jog and sends 100,000 more troops to mop up the Afghans.
Yeah, you better believe the UN is not going to choose an American to head up an investigation of the US any time in the future. Not a chance.
You reap what you sow. Jew and non-Jew. Consequences. So stop asking dumb questions.
whoops, this didn’t make the edit
about maybe perhaps US “intentionality” should be the final arbiter because who can see who you’re going to hit when you release those bombs from the air — the wind has a mind of its own — and the ex-Prez did say they arrested the Abu Ghraib guard.
It is literally impossible for the on the ground experience to determine the military intent of the IDF.
They are at different scales of activity.
The best that can happen is that systems of accountability and communication (more importantly) be set up so that it doesn’t happen again.
If Hamas refrains from shelling, and Israel refrains from attacks, and there are paths for imports and exports from Gaza, then there will be the possibility of avoiding war in the future.
If Hamas and other factions continue shelling, and Israeli attacks (both either in ‘response’ or unilaterally), and there is no communication of intent to deescalate, then escalation will occur.
The game of harrassing the other as a future bargaining chip (Hamas shelling, Israeli checkpoints, etc) , is the wrong game, for civilians welfare, however presented politically.
The presence of the Goldstone Report, and the acceptance by the left of Hamas’ failure to live up to the recommendations, enabled Hamas. The rejection of the Goldstone Report, and the rationalization of carte blanche ratification of IDF actions, enabled the IDF.
Somewhere in the middle is the right path.
Just before the attack on Gaza, Richard Witty said, ‘Palestinians have threatened to wipe the streets with Israeli blood, so Israel does not have to take excessive care to avoid killing Palestinian civilians.’
North,
You, a man of integrity. Do you honestly think that is what I said?
Richard: If you look closely, you will see I used single quotation marks. You’ve told us that your single quotation marks around your notorious ‘blood in the streets of Gaza’ quotation absolve you of the responsibility to find the source; you cite your ‘memory’ as your only source.
Well, this is my ‘memory.’
Prove that you didn’t say it.
North,
As a man of integrity, I assume that you will represent your accurate understanding, not misrepresent it.
In my quote, I DID attempt to represent what I remembered. I just couldn’t find the source.
And, the purpose of the quote at all was to DESCRIBE my understanding of the reasoning of the IDF, relative to the accusation of intentional and illegal harms to Gazans independent of admissible military objective.
It actually doesn’t matter what was said publicly, as much as what was understood and confirmed as potential, in the thinking of those that determined and implemented Israeli policy.
Its a dilemma for truth-seekers, as what is stated publicly is incomplete and often misrepresents true policy intent. And, if what is stated publicly is regarded as “proof”, then the two don’t touch. Public statements are not proof.
So, we are left with speculating as to what is true and secret.
Goldstone Report was that, the effort to form an opinion from materially incomplete evidence.
There we go!
Self-self-exoneration. No amends needed. Wittyesque “truth-seekers” can use their fetid imaginations in any deleterious way they choose.
The fact remains: Richard Witty lied, repeatedly, and then he compounds his lie by refusing to apologize. He went all over the internet and cited a bloodthirsty quote by Hamas that Hamas never said. What Richard Witty did is fundamentally no different than the Tsarist secret police who forged the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
He could apologize. He could simply say he was wrong. He could go to all the sites where he lied about what Hamas said and withdraw his statement. He does no such thing. Instead, he provides incomprehensible justifications for his lie.
Bottom line, “intentionality was/was not IDF/Israeli policy” is a moot point. Israel intentionally targeted and killed civilians, regardless of policy or not, and should therefore be considered “neglegence” and acting outside the rules of war and/or engagement.
Either way, you cannot justify Israel’s belligerant actions and behavior in Gaza no matter how hard you try.
Israel and the IDF killed innocent children, women and men. Period.
A man of integrity would stick to what they can prove, especially when challenged to support their claims.
I’m sure James hd the same problem finding the source of his quote Witty.
But seeing as you can not read anyone’s mind, why not simply stick to what the subsequent actions tell you?
That’s a bit like saying, it doesn’t matter that you made it up.
Then why have you repeatedly insisted or making the false argument that Israel changed their strategy because of what you falsely claim Hamas said?
And you figured this out by not reading the report right Witty?
Witty,
Why aren’t you directing this military insight to Netanyahu and the IDF? I’m sure they’d find your suggestions to be their solution.
There was an intention to attack a target, amid some uncertainty about what it was, and it turned out to be 29 non-combatants. This was or was not within the discretion allowed by ‘policy’ to the person who took the decision. To grant discretion to do this is to form a policy that this is what should be done in some foreseeable circumstances – that is unless you never imagined that those circumstances would arise. But it is inconceivable that circumstances where it was possible that civilians would get killed were not envisaged. So if it was within personal discretion, government policy was to blame.
If it was outside discretion it was in effect against orders. The logical result in that case would be that the person who took the decision be vigorously disowned (at very least). But this has not been the result so far – indeed every effort has been made to exculpate the decision (with drone photos), protect the person who took it and, above and beyond all, to obliterate with immense strenuousness the main critique, that of Goldstone.
This seems to me to bring the action firmly back within the area of policy and intention.
You are right, the facts have not changed. Goldstone said that there was no evidence that the Israelis deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza. At the time Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, testified in front of the United Nations Human Rights Council that Israel “did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” Again, look at the facts – approximately 1 civilian an hour was killed over the 21 day operation (=about 400). Clearly each innocent death is to be regretted, but had the Israelis been trying to kill civilians, the numbers would have been massively more. Israel had 9,000 soldiers on the ground in Gaza, with modern weapons, 9,000 soldiers cannot kill more than 1 civilian an hour when they are deliberately trying? In one of the most densely populated parts of earth? Add in the air force, which carried out thousands of bombing raids, and the navy, which shelled from the sea (Gaza being coastal), and the artillery – all these together could not kill 1 civilian an hour? The facts show Israel was not trying to kill civilians, or else they should fire the IDF and replace it with one disgruntled postal worker! Clearly, Goldstone’s retraction was appropriate. Israel was doing what it said, trying to stop the thousands of missiles which were deliberately aimed at their own civilians – it was doing the right thing in the right way. The civilian population of Gaza can give thanks to the IDF every day because due to their extreme care, thousands of them are still alive.
Yours is such an idiotic post. The fact that the Isrealis killed only 1 civilian per hour says nothing about Israel’s intent, except to say that it did not wish to kill more than 1 civilian per hour. It says absolutely nothing about its intent with regards to the 1 civilian per hour it did kill.
Why is it that you apologists for Israel’s crimes can’t master first-grade logic. Good lord, I have fish that have more brain power than some of you do.
“9,000 soldiers cannot kill more than 1 civilian an hour when they are deliberately trying?”
Most countries with bad human rights records could have much worse human rights records if they wished. They could torture more people than they do, kill more people than they do, etc….
Try thinking before you post.
False. What Goldstone said was that new evidence from Israel that cast doubt on whether Israelis deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza, and it’s evidence thqt he has not even seen.
Kemp is a liar involved in an unecessary war in Afghanistan. The guy is paid to lie.
False. The number of civlians killed by Israel is 3 times that many.
The ground troops entereed Gaza well into the campaign, so they killed a lot more than one an hour.
it weas not a retractions nad his explanation was absurd. He not only cited evidence he had not seen (or that has never been produced), but he took at face value an investigation that the David inquiry dismissed as deeply flawed.
False again. A wikileaks memo revealed that Cast Lead had nothign to do with stopping rocket attacks, but was internded from the beginning, to undercut Hamas politically.
I find most Austra,lians a good deal smarter and far less sadistic than you. Did you migrate recently?
“Goldstone said that there was no evidence that the Israelis deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza.” “No evidence” is not evidence of no. And it is more accurate to say that “no evidence was found” but again “no evidence found” is not evidence of no. Behavior is truth and why does “specific intent” really matter here? I [knowing the probable effects of a bullet and knowing of the existence of a crowd of people and know that "gravity works"] shoot a bullet into the air over a crowd of people. One is killed. Intent is a lawyer’s quibble and can be taken into account after conviction when sentence is imposed.
ASIDE: Opinionjuris has a posting of some relevance titled “Israel’s Changes in Response to the Goldstone Report”
by Kevin Jon Heller
site: link to opiniojuris.org
Publicly, Israel has been nothing but critical of the Goldstone Report. Netanyahu responded to Goldstone’s recent partial retraction, for example, by calling for the “twisted and nonfactual” Report to be thrown “into the dustbin of history.” ……. I attempted to post this elsewhere on Mondoweiss but being in China sometimes cannot tell if it “got thru”.
actually he claimed in the op ed there was no evidence of ‘a policy’ to target civilians. he would never say there was no evidence civilians were deliberately targeted in Gaza after documenting just that!
Seriously, read the comment by the Col. Kemp. They were fighting in a dense urban area because that is where the terrorists were hiding, yet they, with massive fire power, killed very few civilians. This was not an accident, it was because they were trying very hard not to. Yes, the people of Gaza can be very grateful they were fighting Israelis not any other army on earth.
oh yawn, does anyone take this kind of garbage seriously? anyone?
Gratitude, hunh.
You callow immoral reprobate.
“Seriously, read the comment by the Col. Kemp.”
LMAO. You refer to David Harris’ and Dore Gold’s errand boy to support your claims? Really??
Kemp didn’t go to Gaza, but, boy, he did cash those hasbara-checks, er, cheques…
(And, interesting, when you see a video of him, Kemp’s lips move, but Netanyahu’s voice comes out. LOL. Amazing how that works…)
No, I was referring to Col Kemp.
“No, I was referring to Col Kemp”…
…who works for Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (Dore Gold’s group), and UN Watch (David Harris’s group).
Really, if Kemp wants to prostitute himself for the worst kind of apologists for Israeli crimes, that’s his business. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that he’s not a whore.
The IDF moved the Samouni family into the building, telling them they’d be safe. So, the IDF knew the Samouni family was there b/c they put them there – in harms way.
And with all that advanced weaponry you speak of, or if someone in the IDF had spoken up about the 29 members of the Samouni family they put there, their deaths could have and should have been avoided.
You’re trying to justify the indefensible.
But, the terrorists came from Europe to Gaza, so it’s their fault. Not the Palestinians’. If like Helen Thomas said, the terrorists went back to Europe, then the Palestinians wouldn’t have to defend themselves.
Gte some professional help Stranger. I mental health in inadequately funded in Australia, but a crack pot like you shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a keyboard.
If Kemp was there, then he was clearly in the good graces of the Israeli goverbment and the IDF. The IDF the blocking all foreign journalists from entering Gaza, in spite of an Israeli Supreme Court order that they be allowed in, so if some British colonel was there, then the Israelis had to be confident he would give a flattering account.
I’m sure his bank acount is a good deal fatter these days.
Yes, the people of Israel can be very grateful they were fighting Hamas not any other army on earth with real weapons and missiles right?
Three hundred and fifty children are “very few civilians” to you, huh?
If you look at his figure of 400 civlians Chaos, he’s obviously tryign to sell the Hasbara idea that 700 Hamas terrorists were killed.
Even if that was to be believed, that’s still a civilian kill ratio of over a third. And of course we know, it’s not to be believed.
21st century Holocaust denial — and blame the Israeli politicians who affixed the word shoah to what Israel is doing to the Palestinians, not me.
Just another quick response, so you are saying Israeli actions in no way are a guide to Israeli intent?
no we’re saying you’re an ***** and your logic is seriously impaired.
Thanks, Annie.
I was always taught to listen to others points of view, as that is how you learn. Personal abuse just demeans you.
did you hear this?
Kemp didn’t go to Gaza
this is the internet, my advice to you would be don’t take it personally. this is infowarfare, it is a battleground and that’s why you are here. so any accusation of personal abuse i don’t take seriously. you worry your pretty little head about demeaning yourself, and i’ll take care for my own reputation thank you very much.
As mentioned, he was with the Israeli HQ, which is the best place to see policy and intent. It is why he is qualified to say what he did. He saw their policies, he saw how they reacted as news came in.
not sure i agree w/you the best place to see policy and intent of a war is in the headquarters of the attacking army. do you think perhaps he might have been assigned a communication specialist to make sure he was receiving appropriate messaging? hey, we all got to hear the idf spokespeople non stop during the war. they also didn’t let foreign reporters into the strip. the ‘upside’ of that is global msm was inundated w/ israel’s robust propaganda.
you might want to rethink your audience here. we are not idiots. if you want to be taken serious stop trying to peddle this BS on us. caprice?
“As mentioned, he was with the Israeli HQ, which is the best place to see policy and intent.”
You’re full of it. Kemp, himself, admitted that he based his opinion regarding the war on the Gazans based on what he read in the papers and saw in the media. He didn’t go to Gaza and certainly not to Israeli HQ. He was in the UK watching the telly.
In Jan. 2009, he did an interview with the BBC and parroted the standard pro-Israel line about the I”D”F (assertions which he, himself, admitted sounded beyond belief) being God’s own army, and next thing you know he was cashing hasbara-cheques.
Like I said, whore.
Propagandising the virtues of a massacre demeans you a great deal more.
So why did Israel invite this man, who had no reason to be there, and refuse to allow anyone from the UN to observe?
The fact that he was there is becasue Israel knoew enough about him to be confident he would give them a glowing report. The guy is clearly corrupt to eyeballs.
“Just another quick response, so you are saying Israeli actions in no way are a guide to Israeli intent?”
No, I am not saying that. I am saying that the rate at which the Israelis killed Palestinians is in no way indicative of Israel’s intent with regard to those which they did kill.
This is basic logic.
(And there is a “reply” button at the bottom of every post for a reason, by the way.)
Of course they are a guide to Israel’s intent. Ever since the Nakbah (That’s Yiddish for Extended Vacation) it was obvious what Israel’s intent was.
Avi: There’s a shift change in Troll-ville. Some of our old hasbara friends disappear, and “stranger” suddenly pops up, spouting the usual provocative foolishness.
What annoys me as an American citizen and taxpayer is that I am indirectly helping to fund these people, through my country’s massive aid to Israel.
On the plus side, Hasbara Central is assigning more and more people to Mondoweiss, which is proof of our growing influence. And the newer trolls don’t even go through that fake 2-3 day phase of pretending to be wide-eyed innocents; they start stirring up trouble right from their very first comment.
which is proof of our growing influence.
yep. they know it and we know it. the conversation has begun and some of them will do everything they can to divert it.
Actually, I live in Australia, and have no connections with any group – just saw some obvious misunderstandings, and thought to join in a conversation. Try not assuming the worst about people just because they happen to hold different views to your own group.
That’s not so bad. You should consider yourself lucky. I have been funding Israel my entire life, when I lived in Israel and paid taxes, when I lived in Canada and paid taxes……paid taxes in a couple of other countries that trade arms with Israel…….now I live in the US, I pay taxes, too, and they continue to flow toward Israel. It seems that All roads lead to R……Rishon Le-Tzion.
Please stop making Australians look like half wits. They’re very cool people.
Of course thery are. They shot civlians carryign white flags and bombed a house killing 29 civlians after instructing them to take refuge there.
Their intentions were perfectly clear.
To say nothing of the fact that Israeli politicians have been using the word shoah to talk about what they intend to do to the Palestinians.
stevelaudig, do you think Hamas uses civilians as human shields in Gaza?
Do you think Hamas fires behind schools and Mosques in Gaza?
kellen, there is a reply function under every comment. when you are addressing a specific poster wrt their comment please use the reply function @ the base of their comment as opposed to dropping it into the general thread. thanks.