Former Haaretz Editor Condemns Goldstone Report

The report stunned even seasoned Israeli diplomats who expected no quarter from an inquiry set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which they believe to be deeply biased against Israel. They expected the military operation to be condemned as grossly disproportionate. They expected Israel to be lambasted for not taking sufficient care to avoid civilian casualties. But they never imagined that the report would accuse the Jewish state of intentionally aiming at civilians.

Israelis believe that their army did not deliberately kill the hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including children, who died during “Operation Cast Lead.” They believe, therefore, that Israel is not culpable, morally or criminally, for these civilian deaths, which were collateral to the true aim of the operation — killing Hamas gunmen.

When does negligence become recklessness, and when does recklessness slip into wanton callousness, and then into deliberate disregard for innocent human life?

But that is the point — and it should have been the focus of the investigation. Judge Goldstone’s real mandate was, or should have been, to bring Israel to confront this fundamental question, a question inherent in the waging of war by all civilized societies against irregular armed groups. Are widespread civilian casualties inevitable when a modern army pounds terrorist targets in a heavily populated area with purportedly smart ordnance? Are they acceptable? Does the enemy’s deployment in the heart of the civilian area shift the line between right and wrong, in morality and in law?

And this is also where the failure to distinguish between Hamas and the IDF is best seen. Hamas did, does and always targets civilians. Israel has a history of attempting to avoid civilian casualties, even if it can be accused of sometimes disregarding that concern. And so the conclusion vis a vis Hamas is no surprise, they are, after all, a recognized terrorist group. But the conclusion vis a vis Israel is a major political tool for the enemies of Israel, the hardliners who like to call Israel a genocidal, killer state. Whenever they come up with their next conspiracy theory, they will back it up with the claim, now kosherized by this UN kangaroo court, that Israel targets Palestinian civilians.

Regards,

DKW

Happy New Year

To All Our Jewish Readers (all 6 of them):

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

The Great Sin Of The Cast Lead Report

I am not going to bother posting this on Daily Kos as it will go nowhere. Indeed, Daily Kos posters often follow the same playbook as Ken Roth as explained in the article I am about to reference.

Take a look at what Irwin Cotler has to say about the Cast Lead Investigation:

In a word, Roth writes not like a lawyer - let alone a human rights lawyer - but as a propagandist.

And this is really it in a nutshell. The Cast Lead Report is not a legal document. It is a propoganda document that was headed by a an extremelly noble human rights lawyer specifically to give it the imprimatuer of impartiality because the architects knew that the mission was fundamentally flawed and biased.

The there is the participation of Professor Christine Chinkin who long before the investigation was announced had already publicly stated that Israel had committed war crimes. Kinda like the judge saying publicly, I know the defendant is guilty but I will look at all the evidence anyway.

19 British lawyers and academics have penned an open letter calling upon Chinkin to disqualify herself as her expression "on the merits of the issue... prior to seeing any of the evidence... give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias..."; and saying that her continued participation necessarily compromises the independence of the inquiry and its report.

But this is what really gets to me, and this is the Daily Kos playbook. Ken Roth of HRW attacks Cotler as being a pawn of the State of Israel. This is the most common play in their playbook. If you criticize bias against Israel, it is because you are a pawn of the Israelis. It is because you can't allow criticism of Israel. Never mind that Irwin Cotler is one of the greatest civil rights lawyers alive today. Nelson Mandella's lawyer, a lawyer who has represented Palestinians in front of Israeli courts, and who, until he became Justice Minister of Canada was counsel to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group.

For this is the "Human Rights" playbook. You cannot be a human rights lawyer or advocate if you ever fail to accuse Israel. And so Roth, and mis supporters, miss the key point. By engaging in such a ridiculously biased report, the report loses credibility among actual human rights lawyers. But human rights lawyers aren't the target because this is not a legal document. This is a political propoganda document inteded to continue the public relations war against Israel.

Cotler's words:

ROTH SEEKS to justify his defense of Goldstone - who deserves a better defense than this - by yet another false accusation, namely that I am "part of an intense campaign by the Israeli government and some of its uncritical supporters to smear the messenger and change the subject." Never mind that I have appeared in Israeli courts and made representations to the Israeli government on subjects ranging from the protection of Palestinian refugees to the status of Ethiopian Jews; never mind that I served as international legal counsel to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group - until I became minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada - on issues regarding human rights violations in the occupied territories and in Israel; or that I have visited Israel and Gaza more than Ken Roth has, including meeting with Palestinian government leaders and leaders of Palestinian civil society in Ramallah this past August. These are simply "inconvenient truths" that might undermine Roth's false ad hominem diatribe, which permeates his piece.

But even if his smear were true - that I am an uncritical supporter of Israel - it is beside the point. My critique of the Goldstone mission was based on the fact that it was established under the enabling authority of the UN Human Rights Council, which has systematically singled-out one member state in the international community (call it X, since for Roth accusations of war crimes against Israel seem to be a right of passage necessary to engage in international human rights discourse) while the major human rights violators have enjoyed exculpatory immunity. And it was advanced as a critique of the denial of international due process to a member state, and as an expression of concern with the work of the UN Human Rights Council and the integrity of UN missions under its authority.

I encourage you all to use this article if you are brave enough to tread in the waters at Daily Kos.

Regards,

DKW

Keith Strikes Again!

Keith Moon, the enfant terrible of the pro-Israel dKos crowd has, yet again, stirred the hornet's nest with his diary titled HRW Military Analyst Collects Nazi Gear.

His diary points to a Jerusalem Post article about Human Rights Watch analyst, Marc Garlasco, who happens to be enamored of Nazi memorabilia.

The article notes:

A human rights group's senior military analyst has been suspended after a pro-Israel blog reported that he collects Nazi memorabilia, an official said Tuesday.

Marc Garlasco is being suspended by Human Rights Watch "pending an investigation," said Carroll Bogert, associate director of the New York-based organization. The suspension was first reported Monday by The New York Times.

None of this proves anything concerning Garlasco, but I have to say that it gives me irrational glee to watch the dKos I-P regulars scrambling to justify it.

Good for Keith Moon.

Oh, and here, btw, is a photo of Garlasco in one of his Nazi sweatshirts:



I'm sure it's all perfectly innocent.

What human rights monitor doesn't love Nazi stuff?

UPDATE: It's been pointed out to me that the Iron Cross is not exclusive to Nazi Germany, but has a long history in German military tradition. While that may be true, it's also entirely irrelevant. Here we have a guy who spends his days excoriating Israel and who, coincidentally, loves to collect Nazi memorabilia and wears the Iron Cross in public. And people on dKos are seeking to justify it? This would be like if someone investigating the Nation of Islam just happened to be a fan of Confederacy, or KKK, memorabilia.

Give me a small break.

Racism Exists, Anti-Semitism, Not So Much

Interesting phenominom that I need to point out. The reaction of the Dialy Kos community to the Joe Wilson "you lie" incident is that it was racially motivated. They make this conclusion not because any conduct is overtly racist, but because of history and context.

I honeslty don't know if the Wilson incident is racist, but I am certainly not willing to rule it out. The Daily Kos reaction though, underscores a point that I have made before. The Daily Kos community is all too willing to see racism even where they have to read it into a situation. However, the same community is incredibly obtuse when it comes to recognizes the same type of hidden bigotry against Jews.

Regards,
DKW

Another Call to End Israel

Jeez, what a shock!

On Daily Kos yet another writer is suggesting that the only way toward peace is for Israel to incorporate the West Bank and Gaza into Israel proper and dissolve itself as a Jewish state.

In A Modest Proposal for the Settlements on the Israeli West Bank the diarist writes:


I've long thought a two-state solution - with "Palestine" bifurcated down the middle by their hated Israel, was a geopolitical impossibility. By forcing these two people's to live together, at least those who are realistic, with a common interest in their mutual housing and environs, both people would be moving toward the inevitable co-mingling of their populations.

Forcing?

Forcing people to live together?

Wha?

This diarist is honestly suggesting that the only way to achieve peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is for some outside power to force Israel to dissolve itself as a Jewish state. Just which outside power(s), however, he does not specify. Should the UN attack Israel in order to force compliance? Should some combination of the Arab states yet again attack Israel or should the US and the EU do the deed?

He doesn't say.

He does however have an interesting suggestion regarding the WB settlements:

I propose the following: Keep the settlements, but - after thorough screening and background checks - allow one third of the new apartments to go to Palestinian families (the apartments must be of equal quality). If the Palestinian families don't have the money, I think the U.S. or international community could be persuaded to cough it up in the interest of peace and interdependency. We've certainly subsidized lesser causes.

In other words, after some outside force has compelled Israel to dissolve itself, the US or the international community should fork over money to Palestinians so that they can move into (for some arbitrary reason) one third of the new housing units. Why, I wonder, one third? Why not half? Why not three quarters?

Of course, after the horrific war, resulting in the slaughter of perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, which this diarist is unwittingly suggesting, there should be an overabundance of available housing, thus causing real estate prices to crash. This will be helpful to any one looking for new digs, eh?

In any case, this Daily Kos diary represents yet another example of the sheer stupidity that has taken hold among some on the liberal left viz-a-viz Israel. While it must be noted that this diary did not get a whole lot of play on dKos, because most of its members are not nearly so stupid as to agree with this diarist (or so one hopes), it nonetheless sits there as a tribute to the absolute blindness and arrogance of well-meaning people who have not the slightest clue what they are talking about.

He goes on to write:

It is time for new solutions. The road map was a dead-end. The Two-State solution is a geopolitical impossibility. The annihilation of Israel is in no one's interest, not even the Arabs...

The annihilation of Israel is in no one's interest. I couldn't agree more. However, if that is the case, then what can "forcing" Israel into the single-state solution possibly mean?

As Schiller long ago wrote, "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."

Indeed.

Israel Hatred

In one of Volleyboy's recent diaries on Daily Kos there was some discussion of the concept of Israel Hatred, which some people over there reject. We are told time and again that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism; that criticism of Israel does not represent hatred either toward the Jewish state, nor toward Jews.

The problem, of course, is that no one is claiming otherwise. Of course, criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, nor does it represent hatred toward Israel. What we are talking about, however, is not criticism.

Borat Sagdiyev put it nicely:

Of course no one is going to come out and declare that [s]he hates Israel. The proof is therefore by preponderance of evidence.

People who bash, demonize and vilify Israel only, people who never have a good word to say about Israel and who never have a bad word to say about Israel's many enemies, people who nitpick on Israel's every minor fault or violation while ignoring/justifying/excusing every atrocious and reprehensible action committed by Israel's enemies, people who blame every problem in the middle east (if not the world) on Israel, people who write diaries about "Israeli atrocities" but are completely silent about real genocides elsewhere in the world, people who write diaries about the suffering of the Palestinian people in the west bank and are completely silent on suffering of the palestinian people in Lebanon or Kuwait....Well you got the idea.

There is a very significant number of posters who truly passionately hate Israel, I know who they are and you know who they are. Your defense that we can't read their minds and therefore they are innocent is simply too childish to be taken seriously.

Precisely.

Posted by Karmafish