What Richard Goldstone published on the Times op-ed page yesterday should not be surprising to either his defenders or detractors. He has never made a secret of being a progressive Zionist, and if he went a step further than the average J Street operative in his desperation to save Israel as a Jewish state, it’s because he spent much more time around international institutions and was thus all the more alarmed. There is no reason to believe that the things he is saying now are any different from what he believed when he wrote the report on Cast Lead.
But this also speaks to a larger point – international “law” and institutions are the problem, not the solution. Israel owes its very existence to a mandate of “international law”, and is the only country to invoke it in its declaration of independence. If international institutions, and the UN in particular, are eager to admit a “state of Palestine”, it is because they are desperate to implement a two-state solution for the sake of their own credibility.
Richard Goldstone is first and foremost a dedicated partisan and apparatchik of the international system and its ultimate triumph, and Israel remains the tabernacle of that system because, sharing the same sacred story as the American empire, it is the ultimate symbol of its own goodness. That this system has to such an extent been turned against Israel (and the United States) is but a natural irony of history.
Put not your faith in the princes of the UN, but in the power lying in the streets of Palestine, Egypt, Bahrain, and beyond.
“. Israel owes its very existence to a mandate of “international law”, and is the only country to invoke it in its declaration of independence. If international institutions, and the UN in particular, are eager to admit a “state of Palestine”, it is because they are desperate to implement a two-state solution for the sake of their own credibility.”
And time for a two state solution is fading quickly
Goldstone: “Blacks critically injured in car accidents were left to bleed to death if there was no “black” ambulance to rush them to a “black” hospital. “White” hospitals were prohibited from saving their lives.”
His willingness to ignore the similarities is shameful,
Infringement of the Right to Medical Treatment
The army’s severe restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank gravely affect the ability of Palestinians to obtain proper medical treatment.
The hundreds of physical obstructions and dozens of checkpoints result in very limited access to medical treatment, and sometimes none at all. The problem is especially grave among residents of villages and outlying areas who need to get to hospitals in the large cities. For example, persons living in villages around Jerusalem who need to get to hospitals in East Jerusalem for treatment require a permit to enable them to reach their destination. To obtain a permit, patients have to provide medical documents testifying to their illness, as well as confirmation that they have an appointment at the specific hospital and that it is the only facility where the needed treatment is available.
The need for a permit is especially problematic for pregnant women, who need to get to the hospital in time to give birth. Even though the delivery date is uncertain, the permit given to women about to deliver is valid for only one or two days, as is the case for most sick persons. Therefore, women in their ninth month of pregnancy must go to the DCO every few days to renew the permit. As a result, in some instances, the mother gave birth at the checkpoint after her crossing was delayed because she did not have a valid permit. In 2007, at least five women gave birth at a checkpoint, three of them at a checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem.
The hardships entailed in obtaining medical treatment involve more than the bureaucracy of the permit regime. In many cases, the way to the hospital is blocked, so the sick and injured have to travel on long, winding, and worn roads. These alternate roads often lead to a staffed checkpoint, where they are forced to wait and undergo checks. In other cases, access to medical treatment is prevented and ill and wounded persons are unable to receive emergency medical treatment when checkpoints are closed at night, and whole Palestinian communities are blocked from entering or leaving by vehicle, including by ambulance. This situation exists primarily in enclaves in the “seam zone” and in a number of isolated areas, among them Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, in the Nablus area. In 2007, there was an increase in the number of persons needing medical treatment who were delayed at checkpoints, and B’Tselem documented five cases in which ill or wounded persons died after being delayed at a checkpoint.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/checkpoints.html
Harassment, Humiliation, and Death
Extensive evidence indicates that whether or not a Palestinian is allowed to pass through a checkpoint is often arbitrary. Journalists and other eyewitnesses report that Palestinians have been denied access because they are smiling, or are deemed ugly, or simply because the soldiers don’t feel like letting them pass.
Human Rights workers have documented cases where Palestinian men and boys are detained at checkpoints without food, water, or protection from the elements for hours. In some cases, they are held in metal cages or required to strip to their underwear, in many cases, they are blindfolded and their hands are tied with plastic ties that cut deeply into their wrists.
An ambulance is detained and checked at a checkpoint in Nablus.
An ambulance is detained and checked at a checkpoint in Nablus. Palestine Monitor
There is a great deal of documentary evidence showing that ambulances carrying sick or injured Palestinians frequently are prevented from traveling through checkpoints, sometimes leading to deaths. In addition numerous pregnant women have not been allowed to pass through checkpoints – in many cases the mother or baby has died as a result. Between June 2003 and February 2004, 46 women delivered their babies at checkpoints – 24 of the women and 27 newborns died as a result.
According to the Palestine Monitor, “[m]ore than 991 incidents of denial of access to Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees’ (UPMRC) ambulances have been reported,” and at least 83 deaths have resulted from the prevention of access to medical services.
There are parts of “Jerusalem” where the ambulance dispatcher asks, “Is the victim a Jew or Arab?” If an Arab, the ambulance is denied, but an “Arab ambulance” isn’t allowed into the area.
Prominent individuals who know what apartheid is sure disagree with Goldstone.
Archbishop Tutu
http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/zionism/apartheid_tutu2.htm
Archbishop Tutu Stands For Justice Against Apartheid Israel
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/08/archbishop-tutu-stands-
with-marrickville-against-apartheid-israel/
Nelson Mandela
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/mandela.pdf
The Elders
http://www.theelders.org/article/elders-next-move
I agree with Jack that Goldstone has been consistent in his values and statements, even if it differed from the statements of those that would use his work for their own political objectives.
I disagree that
“Richard Goldstone is first and foremost a dedicated partisan”.
My sense is that he is just a man, a principled, informed, dedicated man.
Dedicated to family, community, Jewish community, law, international law, alike.
Not one, not the other.