Howard Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has responded to Judge Goldstone’s vigorous defense of his report–preparatory to the vote in the House tomorrow on Berman’s bill to denounce Goldstone. (Assiduous Spencer Ackerman picks it up.) As we reported a year or so back, Berman got onto Foreign Affairs, as he told a Sherman Oaks audience, because of his love of Israel, and it shows in this dashed-off response to Goldstone. In it Berman does not dispute any of Goldstone’s findings. He does not bring back from the dead any of the Palestinian children killed in the Israeli assault, nor rehabilitate the smashed poultry factory and flour mill that Goldstone saw as evidence of "persecution." No: lacking facts, Berman merely questions Goldstone’s method.
Some key excerpts:
The Report does not take into account that Israeli soldiers were operating under fire, in an extremely volatile and dangerous environment, in which the enemy was hiding amongst a civilian population.
Nor does the Report generally take into account that testimony from Gazans was given under the watchful eye of Hamas officials. …
the Report does not explore why Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorist aggression perpetrated by a non-state actor. Justice Goldstone says that “the right to use military force was not considered to fall within our mandate.” Yet, he went beyond his mandate in several other areas of the Report, including discussion of Israel’s policies throughout the occupied territories (including the West Bank) …
Actually, if Goldstone had taken into consideration the right to use military force, he would have had to explore the issue of Palestinian resistance to occupation; and he may well have landeed where the International Association of Democratic Lawyers’ report on Gaza did: that Israel was taking "prohibited reprisals" against Palestinians who have sought the right of self-determination and an end to a blockade.
More bias:
Hamas is in full control of Gaza, and this “fear of reprisals” significantly helped Hamas shape the findings. See, for example, an Amnesty International publication that reports on how Hamas murdered its rivals while operation Cast Lead was ongoing: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/hamas-waged-deadly-campaign-war-devastated-gaza-20090212.
Yes, Hamas murdered rivals. Taghreed El-Khodary reported this. But Israel still massacred 1400 Palestinians.
Furthermore, the commission conducted some of its proceedings through holding televised open hearings in Gaza. Given its total control of Gaza and its ability to intimidate, Hamas almost certainly would have been able to control the access and message of each witness attending a televised open hearing.
