A happy, healthy and sweet new year. I wanted to share with you two letters to the editor from today's NYT.
Re “Justice in Gaza” (Op-Ed, Sept. 17):
Richard Goldstone displays the same disregard for Israel and naïveté regarding Hamas that permeates the report he wrote for the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Since its inception in 2006, the council has consistently demonized Israel while giving a free pass to some of the world’s worst tyrants, from Sudan to Iran. Mr. Goldstone largely neglects what prompted Israel to act militarily against Hamas.
Let’s be clear for historical accuracy. Israel’s military operation came after eight years of relentless rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli towns and villages. Indeed, thousands of rockets were launched after Israel transferred the entire Gaza Strip to the Palestinians four years ago.
While the United Nations made no effort to stop the Palestinian rockets, Israel showed remarkable restraint over the years until it could not hold back anymore.
More disturbing, the Goldstone report has set a new standard for equating the behavior of democratic nations and terrorists.
He makes no moral distinction between Israel, a United Nations member state, and Hamas, a terrorist organization that violently seized control of Gaza two years ago from the Palestinian Authority.
The implications of this moral equivalency go beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In fact, they undermine the United States and other democracies facing asymmetrical warfare from adversaries who care little for international norms of war and international humanitarian law.
In sum, Mr. Goldstone’s conclusions are a disservice to the credibility of the United Nations itself.
Richard Sideman
President
American Jewish Committee
New York, Sept. 17, 2009
•
To the Editor:
Richard Goldstone expresses deep concern regarding the “corrosive effect on international justice” and the “unacceptable hypocrisy” of not holding Israel accountable for what he has determined are possible war crimes in Gaza.
He is absolutely right that such corrosion and hypocrisy exist — but through the select application of international law against one democratic nation, Israel. According to the standards of Mr. Goldstone, United States troops would similarly be unable to defend themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan without being smeared as war criminals.
Recognizing this absurdity, Americans should stand with Israel against the discriminatory whims of the larger international community.
Matan Shamir
New York, Sept. 17, 2009
The writer is a Legacy Heritage Fellow. The program cultivates young leaders in North America, Europe and Israel committed to public service and peace in the Middle East.
Regards,
DKW
I remain absolutely flabbergasted that so many people over there cannot understand why anyone would question the judgment of someone enamored of the trappings of Nazism on the question of Israel.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a fool would trust someone who loves Nazi memorabilia to be objective about the Jewish state?
It makes zero sense to do so.
None.
Thanks for those OpEds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with them 100%!