4 apr 2011
'NYT refused to publish Goldstone retraction'
Source close to South African judge claims he initially approached liberal publication to print his letter of regret and was rejected. New York Times says in response it does not comment on editorial process.
Not only did Judge Richard Goldstone's words of regret fail to match the global resonance of his original report, it now comes to light that one of the most important newspapers in the world refused to publish his retraction.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday that a source close to Goldstone stated that in the past few days the judge had approached the editor of the New York Times opinion pages requesting to post the article he wrote in the paper and was told his article was rejected.
The editor gave no explanation as to why the article was rejected, but the source believes this was due to the newspaper's political agenda.
The letter was ultimately published in the more conservative Washington Post over the weekend.
The New York Times said in response that they do not comment on the editorial or reporting process. In recent years the New York Times adopted a highly critical line of reporting towards Israel. Lately, its senior commentator Thomas Friedman has been publishing extremely aggressive articles against Israel and its current government.
The source also said that since the publication of the Goldstone Report two years ago, the judge and his wife have been socially ostracized in Jewish circles, which has caused them a great deal of sorrow.
Broken man
Dr. Alon Liel, a friend of Goldstone's from his days as a Foreign Ministry representative in South Africa, went a step further and said that Goldstone has "been through hell" and that has contributed to his decision to publish a letter of regret.
"He was being constantly harassed, received threatening letters, and was forced to change his phone number and email addresses," Liel said. "When Israel decided to boycott him, it was an overwhelming insult.'I'm a Jewish judge, a respected Zionist and Israel doesn't trust me?' He was a broken man.
"I'm not saying that the threats he received and the hell he went through are what made him publish his article, but there is no doubt in my mind that it influenced his decision."
Yet other sources close to Goldstone claim that the decision to publish the letter didn't stem from social pressure but from the judge's deep understanding that the UN Human Rights Committee took advantage of his name, status and his being Jewish to unfairly censure Israel.
"He would never have written or published the article," the source explained, "if he didn't feel with the utmost certainty that he needed to tell the world that he was manipulated."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051762,00.html
Ha'aretz http://fwd4.me/ywZ
Israel to fight European court cases with Goldstone op-ed
Israel plans to fight possible court cases brought against its officials in Europe using an opinion piece published by international jurist Richard Goldstone, reports the Jerusalem Post.
In the Washington Post op-ed published Friday, Goldstone expressed "confidence" in Israeli investigations of military conduct during its 22-day war on Gaza in 2008-2009.
The author of a UN report on possible war crimes during Operation Cast Lead also said that had evidence produced in Israeli investigations been available to his team, they would have written a different report.
An Israeli official says that these views will be used to fight possible war crimes charges in European courts.
According to the officer, Goldstone's faith in the Israeli legal system could also be instrumental in preventing charges from being brought against Israeli politicians and IDF officers who travel to Europe in the future.
IDF officers have been under strict travel restrictions since Operation Cast Lead due to fear that they could be arrested in countries like Spain and England, which abide by universal jurisdiction in their legal systems.
Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni had to cancel a trip to London in 2009 over concerns that she would be arrested for the role she played in Operation Cast Lead.
The concern has decreased since now it will be very difficult for prosecutors and judges to claim that the Israeli legal system cannot be trusted, the senior officer said, adding that this would also apply to efforts by Palestinians to bring charges against Israel before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
http://fwd4.me/yvs
Goldstone reminded us of the real face of Kadima
Operation Cast Lead 1, manufactured by Kadima, constitutes an Israeli and international license for Cast Lead 2.
Upon seeing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's radiant face as he celebrated Judge Richard Goldstone's confession that his UN report on Operation Cast Lead dealt too harshly with Israel, and upon hearing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's attack on the Jewish judge - one might have thought that those two politicians were the ones who sent the Israel Air Force to bomb the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-2009. What about a good word for Ehud Olmert? A small bouquet of flowers for Tzipi Livni? After all, they're the ones who showed the whole world that Israel can attack Palestinian residential areas and come out looking like the victim.
Operation Cast Lead 1, manufactured by Kadima, constitutes an Israeli and international license for Cast Lead 2. The Cast Lead saga demonstrates the similarity between the two largest political parties with respect to the use of force against Hamas. Even the defense minister was not dislodged in the last election.
Likud is considered a "right-wing party" because of Netanyahu's reluctance to act promptly in negotiations with the Palestinians, and his failure to freeze construction in the settlements. Kadima has assumed the "centrist party" label, thanks to Olmert's accelerated talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In practice, the Annapolis process made it possible for the Kadima government to impose an extended blockade on 1.5 million people in Gaza and ignore the theft of land in the West Bank. Peace, as we all know, was not the result, and it remains very much in doubt whether any Israeli government in the foreseeable future will herald a breakthrough leading to a peace treaty.
It was not for nothing that Netanyahu provoked Livni from the Knesset podium about whether she is willing to give up the West Bank settlement of Ariel, evacuate the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa in East Jerusalem, or allow a limited number of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel. Netanyahu presumably knows the answers. Indeed, they can be found in the Al Jazeera papers, which documented the talks between Livni and the senior Palestinian representative at the time, Ahmed Qureia - and they are: No, no and no. And if the head of Kadima changes her mind on those issues, how many fellow leaders will back her up?
Kadima's behavior pattern in the Knesset refutes the assumption that an agglomeration of "refugees" from the Likud, Labor and Yisrael Beiteinu parties will be waving the tattered flag of the peace camp. The elected officials of Kadima have stood out more for defending the settlement policy and attacking democracy than for criticizing the suspension of peace talks or protesting the damage done to the weaker segments of the population.
For the benefit of the left-wingers who voted for Kadima, here is a selection of Kadima's actions during the Knesset session that just ended:
* Two Kadima MKs (Otniel Schneller and Eli Aflalo ) voted in favor of a law requiring a national referendum to approve any Israeli return of land, and only 15 out of 28 faction members voted against.
* After attacking colleagues who participated in J Street's annual conference in Washington in February, and accusing them of doing damage to the state, Schneller initiated a debate in the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs on the left-wing Jewish lobby, which doesn't see settlement construction as something that contributes to a two-state solution. He told fellow Kadima MK Yoel Hasson, who attended the conference, that "it's strange that the chairman of Likud Youth and the former chairman of Betar are assisting a pro-Palestinian organization." Hasson responded: "You haven't been part of Kadima for a long time; you don't represent Kadima." Unfortunately, it's looking like Schneller very much represents Kadima.
* Schneller was one of three Kadima MKs (the other two were Yulia Shamalov Berkovich and Robert Tibayev ) who supported a Yisrael Beiteinu proposal to investigate the funding sources of human-rights groups in Israel.
* Hasson and fellow Kadima MK Shai Hermesh co-sponsored a recently passed law, along with radical right-winger David Rotem, allowing certain small communities to use admissions committees to screen potential residents. Only one Kadima MK (Shlomo Molla ) voted against it.
* No more than five Kadima MKs voted against the Nakba Law, and two (Gideon Ezra and Orit Zuaretz ) voted for a law revoking the citizenship of Israelis convicted of espionage, of an act of terror against the country or of aiding Israel's enemies. No Kadima member voted against it.
Now that Kadima is five years old, it is looking more like a satellite branch of the right wing, disguised as a centrist party. The shared victory party of those behind Operation Cast Lead and the leaders of the struggle against the so-called "delegitimization" of Israel is an excellent opportunity to bring them all together under the chuppah.
Thank you, Judge Goldstone. Thank you for reminding us what the real face of the alternative actually looks like.
http://fwd4.me/yvl
Israel doesn't believe UN will rescind Goldstone Report
Despite Netanyahu's fervent demands that the entire damning report be annulled, Foreign Ministry sources say that at best, Israel could try to convince Goldstone to turn his Washington Post op-ed into an official letter to the UN.
Foreign Ministry sources said Sunday that Israel will most probably be unable to bring about the cancellation of the damning Goldstone Report on its conduct during the Gaza war in 2008-09.
Following Judge Richard Goldstone's op-ed in the Washington Post in which he voiced regret about blaming Israel for the intentional targeting of civilians in the report he authored on the Gaza war, Israeli leaders immediately called on the United Nations and international institutions to cancel the damning report.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that the entire report be annulled and assigned National Security Adviser Ya'akov Amidror to set up a joint team of staff from the Foreign, Defense and Justice ministries with the task of formulating political and legal recommendations following Goldstone's article.
Netanyahu said that "we will try to undo some of the damage caused," and that it was his goal "to see the report canceled."
Foreign Ministry sources however said that in the best of circumstances, it might be possible for the UN General Assembly to adopt a new resolution concluding that an earlier resolution, passed a year ago, which fully adopted the Goldstone Report, is no longer valid.
"In the current international realities, in view of Israel's standing and the standstill in the peace process, it is hard to imagine that such a scenario will recur," a Foreign Ministry source said, commenting on the previous instance in which a UN resolution was reversed - in 1991, with the revocation of the infamous 1975 General Assembly Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism.
The Foreign Ministry sources explained that the 1991 move was made possible due to the initiation of the peace process in Madrid and the collapse of the Soviet Union. "The United States took the matter as a project and carried it out to the end," said a Foreign Ministry source.
Officials working on the matter estimated that at the most, Israel could try and convince Goldstone to turn the Washington Post op-ed into a letter to send to UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon and to the UN Human Rights Commissioner. In this way, the article will turn into an official document and have greater political and judicial importance.
Israeli officials hope such a letter could aid in blocking future moves in UN institutions regarding Operation Cast Lead. Moreover, Goldstone's article could be used in the defense of senior Israeli officials should an indictment be served against them.
http://fwd4.me/yvm
Hamas: Do not mix up between Goldstone's personal positions and UN findings
The Hamas Movement said it rejects the confusion between the facts reached by the UN probe team about Israel's war crimes in Gaza and Richard Goldstone's personal and political positions and orientations.
In a press release on Sunday, Hamas slammed Goldstone for bending to pressures that were exerted on him to question the result of the investigation that he led.
The Movement urged the countries and organizations concerned with the UN report and supportive of international justice to uphold the findings that came in the report and to work on activating it through the UN institutions in order to hold Israeli war criminal accountable.
"The report emerged after a field investigation and an observation of the facts on the ground by the international committee that was led by Goldstone himself," Hamas stressed.
"Those facts and incidents were witnessed by many international human rights organizations," it added.
Hamas underlined that questioning the results of the investigation is against ethical and legal principals, especially since it resulted from political pressures put on Goldstone by South-African Zionist organizations which had declared their intents to force him by all means to back down from his position.
For its part, the Palestinian government in Gaza expressed its dismay at Goldstone for backtracking on his position on Gaza war in a newspaper article he wrote a few days ago.
In a statement issued by its ministry of justice, the government said that Goldstone and his family were exposed to many pressures and threats by Israel.
It pointed out that Goldstone wrote his article in response to considerable threats made against him by Israel which is notorious for pressuring international envoys and officials and killing UN mediator Folke Bernadotte in September 1948.
The government also noted that Goldstone report was not the only one which proved the incidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, but there were dozens of reports issued by international and local human rights figures and organizations such as the reports of Richard Falk, Navi Pillay and the Arab League.
http://fwd4.me/yvh
'Goldstone aims to end Israel isolation'
A Palestinian resistance group says the retraction of the head of a UN fact-finding mission from his report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza is aimed at getting Tel Aviv out of international isolation.
On Monday, the Islamic Jihad movement expressed disappointment over the withdrawal of South African judge Richard Goldstone from the findings in his report, Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported.
The fact-finding mission, headed by Goldstone, accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during its onslaught on Gaza at the turn of 2009.
The mission found evidence that Israel committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of willful killings and willfully causing great suffering to protected persons.
But in an article published in Washington Post newspaper on Saturday, Goldstone said that he was wrong to say Israel had deliberately targeted civilians during Gaza war that left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead.
According to senior Islamic Jihad leader Ahmad al-Mudallal, Goldstone's U-turn may encourage Israel to wage a new war against the Gaza Strip and "commit more massacres."
Mudallal also noted that Goldstone made the remarks because of pressures exerted on him by the Zionist lobby."
In a statement released on Sunday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas was surprised by Goldstone's U-turn, which has been made under Israeli pressure.
"Hamas calls on the United Nations to enforce the provisions in the Goldstone report because the report has become an international document," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to withdraw the critical report altogether, saying that the Goldstone report should be formally nullified.
Netanyahu added Israel is to set up a team of legal experts to lessen the massive damage to Tel Aviv caused by the report.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172977.html
What does Goldstone know now?
By Abdul-Hakim Salah
Retired justice Richard Goldstone started his opinion piece published Friday on the Washington Post by saying, "We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report."
However, he strangely did not refer at all in his article to the new information he has gained.
"If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document," the article continued, and again failed to elaborate on even a single instance that would call into question his own findings.
Could the South African justice be hinting that the 400 allegations of operational misconduct in a 22-day military offensive were all baseless thanks to the "significant resources Israel dedicated to investigate those allegations?"
Is it possible that the suggested new version of the Goldstone report could end up blaming the 29 victims of the Samouni family for sending the wrong signals to the Israeli drones?
The family had been hoarded into a single home over the course of three days, as fighting raged in northern Gaza. On the fourth day the home holding the extended family was struck by an Israeli air strike, wiping them out.
Speaking of the Samouni family, Goldstone boasts in his article that the Israeli officer who ordered the attack on the family is being investigated. "While the length of this investigation is frustrating, it appears that an appropriate process is underway, and I am confident that if the officer is found to have been negligent, Israel will respond accordingly."
Excuse my comparison, but this is like investigating a truck driver who runs over pedestrians, and his lawyer tries to convince juries that he did not see them cross the road because he was busy talking to his girlfriend. Investigations in Israel will never find the officer guilty of intentionally shelling civilians. At best, this officer might be found guilty of negligence, and, "accordingly," Israel's response will be a verbal apology.
Only in the seventh paragraph does Goldstone bother to blame Israel for one small thing -- "lack of cooperation with the fact-finding mission" -- and it would have been better if he hadn't. That lack of cooperation rendered the fact-finding mission unable to corroborate how many civilians and how many combatants were killed in Gaza. How about how many homes were leveled?
Seeking more ways to express regret and to sympathize with Israel after the alleged damage which stemmed from the report, the retired jurist strikes the note Israel likes by reminding the UN Human Rights Council to condemn the cold-blooded murder of an Israeli family in Itamar settlement.
I personally strongly condemn this murder and reject any attempts to justify it, and I have heard many Palestinians condemning it. Even though investigations have so far failed to prove the murderer was a Palestinian, West Bank villages and people have already suffered enough punishment both by Ultra-orthodox settlers, who illegally occupy territories acknowledged internationally as Palestinian properties, and by the Israeli government which did not spare a moment to announce new illegal constructions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who found in Goldstone's recent remarks a good opportunity to drive attention from corruption charges -- hurried to call on the UN to "throw the report into the dustbin of history."
Save your efforts Mr Prime Minister because many more important UN resolutions on Palestine have ended up in that dustbin.
"Simply put," as Goldstone ended his article, I believe that whether Israel investigates the alleged war crimes, and whether Hamas abstains, that can never be the international standard to judge whether war crimes were committed or not.
As wise ancestors of humanity once said, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and there are still thousands of pictures telling what happened during the war on Gaza. I am looking forward to seeing a new version of Goldstone report, which according to its main author could be re-compiled "given what he knows now."
Abdul-Hakim Salah is a Palestinian journalist based in Bethlehem and the head of Ma'an's English Desk
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375159
Goldstone or Post
by Curtis F.J. Doebbler
It is unfortunate that Goldstone, after producing a very fair report with two colleagues, has digressed into issuing statements based on false and unfounded opinions rather than the clear facts as in his report. He has done this in a statement attributed to him and published in Washington Post on April Fools Day.
First, he claims Hamas has not investigated the crimes committed during operation Cast Lead, but the fact is that Hamas has instituted multiple investigations into the allegations outlined in the Goldstone Report, and attempted to submit them to UN officials.
If Goldstone made an effort to ask Hamas, he would undoubtedly be shown these reports. If he was dissatisfied, the UN Human Rights Council should invite the Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to Geneva to address them on this issue. I am sure he would accept. Unfortunately, it seems it is easier for Goldstone to make unfounded allegations that are simply false.
Second, Goldstone said in his article in the Washington Post, that he believed non-State actors were bound in the same way as national armies to answer to the allegations outlined in his report. This is simply a wrong interpretation of the law. Yes, there are some provisions of international humanitarian law that may apply to non-state actors, but the vague and over-broad statement that Goldstone makes is just plain wrong and not befitting of an international lawyer of Goldstone's status who should know better.
Third, Goldstone at once insinuates and second guesses the idea that Hamas exaggerated the number of casualties. Why make the dangerous assertion if he neither fully believes it, nor can substantiate it in any way.
Fourth, according to Goldstone, it appears that it is mainly because Hamas is striving for self-determination of the Palestinian people throughout Palestine--as international law requires--that they are guilty. An awkward tautology at best, that finds Palestinians guilty for seeking their full human rights.
As in the initial report, Goldstone fails to mention that operation Caste Lead started because of Israel's provocations. It was not a response to Palestinian violence, as we now know it was an intentionally planned (even with the Palestinians authorities in Ramallah as well as with foreign powers) slaughter of hundreds of Palestinians and the destruction of billions of dollars of infrastructure.
The Post article was at the same time an unusual retreat from an honest and brave position to one of cowering behind the powers supporting Israel's foreign and oppressive occupation of Palestine. It appears to be the sign of a man under terrible pressure or merely a bad April Fools joke.
Curtis F.J. Doebbler is an attorney and a professor of international law at Webster University and the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, both located in Geneva, Switzerland.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375020
'NYT refused to publish Goldstone retraction'
Source close to South African judge claims he initially approached liberal publication to print his letter of regret and was rejected. New York Times says in response it does not comment on editorial process.
Not only did Judge Richard Goldstone's words of regret fail to match the global resonance of his original report, it now comes to light that one of the most important newspapers in the world refused to publish his retraction.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday that a source close to Goldstone stated that in the past few days the judge had approached the editor of the New York Times opinion pages requesting to post the article he wrote in the paper and was told his article was rejected.
The editor gave no explanation as to why the article was rejected, but the source believes this was due to the newspaper's political agenda.
The letter was ultimately published in the more conservative Washington Post over the weekend.
The New York Times said in response that they do not comment on the editorial or reporting process. In recent years the New York Times adopted a highly critical line of reporting towards Israel. Lately, its senior commentator Thomas Friedman has been publishing extremely aggressive articles against Israel and its current government.
The source also said that since the publication of the Goldstone Report two years ago, the judge and his wife have been socially ostracized in Jewish circles, which has caused them a great deal of sorrow.
Broken man
Dr. Alon Liel, a friend of Goldstone's from his days as a Foreign Ministry representative in South Africa, went a step further and said that Goldstone has "been through hell" and that has contributed to his decision to publish a letter of regret.
"He was being constantly harassed, received threatening letters, and was forced to change his phone number and email addresses," Liel said. "When Israel decided to boycott him, it was an overwhelming insult.'I'm a Jewish judge, a respected Zionist and Israel doesn't trust me?' He was a broken man.
"I'm not saying that the threats he received and the hell he went through are what made him publish his article, but there is no doubt in my mind that it influenced his decision."
Yet other sources close to Goldstone claim that the decision to publish the letter didn't stem from social pressure but from the judge's deep understanding that the UN Human Rights Committee took advantage of his name, status and his being Jewish to unfairly censure Israel.
"He would never have written or published the article," the source explained, "if he didn't feel with the utmost certainty that he needed to tell the world that he was manipulated."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051762,00.html
Ha'aretz http://fwd4.me/ywZ
Israel to fight European court cases with Goldstone op-ed
Israel plans to fight possible court cases brought against its officials in Europe using an opinion piece published by international jurist Richard Goldstone, reports the Jerusalem Post.
In the Washington Post op-ed published Friday, Goldstone expressed "confidence" in Israeli investigations of military conduct during its 22-day war on Gaza in 2008-2009.
The author of a UN report on possible war crimes during Operation Cast Lead also said that had evidence produced in Israeli investigations been available to his team, they would have written a different report.
An Israeli official says that these views will be used to fight possible war crimes charges in European courts.
According to the officer, Goldstone's faith in the Israeli legal system could also be instrumental in preventing charges from being brought against Israeli politicians and IDF officers who travel to Europe in the future.
IDF officers have been under strict travel restrictions since Operation Cast Lead due to fear that they could be arrested in countries like Spain and England, which abide by universal jurisdiction in their legal systems.
Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni had to cancel a trip to London in 2009 over concerns that she would be arrested for the role she played in Operation Cast Lead.
The concern has decreased since now it will be very difficult for prosecutors and judges to claim that the Israeli legal system cannot be trusted, the senior officer said, adding that this would also apply to efforts by Palestinians to bring charges against Israel before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
http://fwd4.me/yvs
Goldstone reminded us of the real face of Kadima
Operation Cast Lead 1, manufactured by Kadima, constitutes an Israeli and international license for Cast Lead 2.
Upon seeing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's radiant face as he celebrated Judge Richard Goldstone's confession that his UN report on Operation Cast Lead dealt too harshly with Israel, and upon hearing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's attack on the Jewish judge - one might have thought that those two politicians were the ones who sent the Israel Air Force to bomb the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-2009. What about a good word for Ehud Olmert? A small bouquet of flowers for Tzipi Livni? After all, they're the ones who showed the whole world that Israel can attack Palestinian residential areas and come out looking like the victim.
Operation Cast Lead 1, manufactured by Kadima, constitutes an Israeli and international license for Cast Lead 2. The Cast Lead saga demonstrates the similarity between the two largest political parties with respect to the use of force against Hamas. Even the defense minister was not dislodged in the last election.
Likud is considered a "right-wing party" because of Netanyahu's reluctance to act promptly in negotiations with the Palestinians, and his failure to freeze construction in the settlements. Kadima has assumed the "centrist party" label, thanks to Olmert's accelerated talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In practice, the Annapolis process made it possible for the Kadima government to impose an extended blockade on 1.5 million people in Gaza and ignore the theft of land in the West Bank. Peace, as we all know, was not the result, and it remains very much in doubt whether any Israeli government in the foreseeable future will herald a breakthrough leading to a peace treaty.
It was not for nothing that Netanyahu provoked Livni from the Knesset podium about whether she is willing to give up the West Bank settlement of Ariel, evacuate the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa in East Jerusalem, or allow a limited number of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel. Netanyahu presumably knows the answers. Indeed, they can be found in the Al Jazeera papers, which documented the talks between Livni and the senior Palestinian representative at the time, Ahmed Qureia - and they are: No, no and no. And if the head of Kadima changes her mind on those issues, how many fellow leaders will back her up?
Kadima's behavior pattern in the Knesset refutes the assumption that an agglomeration of "refugees" from the Likud, Labor and Yisrael Beiteinu parties will be waving the tattered flag of the peace camp. The elected officials of Kadima have stood out more for defending the settlement policy and attacking democracy than for criticizing the suspension of peace talks or protesting the damage done to the weaker segments of the population.
For the benefit of the left-wingers who voted for Kadima, here is a selection of Kadima's actions during the Knesset session that just ended:
* Two Kadima MKs (Otniel Schneller and Eli Aflalo ) voted in favor of a law requiring a national referendum to approve any Israeli return of land, and only 15 out of 28 faction members voted against.
* After attacking colleagues who participated in J Street's annual conference in Washington in February, and accusing them of doing damage to the state, Schneller initiated a debate in the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs on the left-wing Jewish lobby, which doesn't see settlement construction as something that contributes to a two-state solution. He told fellow Kadima MK Yoel Hasson, who attended the conference, that "it's strange that the chairman of Likud Youth and the former chairman of Betar are assisting a pro-Palestinian organization." Hasson responded: "You haven't been part of Kadima for a long time; you don't represent Kadima." Unfortunately, it's looking like Schneller very much represents Kadima.
* Schneller was one of three Kadima MKs (the other two were Yulia Shamalov Berkovich and Robert Tibayev ) who supported a Yisrael Beiteinu proposal to investigate the funding sources of human-rights groups in Israel.
* Hasson and fellow Kadima MK Shai Hermesh co-sponsored a recently passed law, along with radical right-winger David Rotem, allowing certain small communities to use admissions committees to screen potential residents. Only one Kadima MK (Shlomo Molla ) voted against it.
* No more than five Kadima MKs voted against the Nakba Law, and two (Gideon Ezra and Orit Zuaretz ) voted for a law revoking the citizenship of Israelis convicted of espionage, of an act of terror against the country or of aiding Israel's enemies. No Kadima member voted against it.
Now that Kadima is five years old, it is looking more like a satellite branch of the right wing, disguised as a centrist party. The shared victory party of those behind Operation Cast Lead and the leaders of the struggle against the so-called "delegitimization" of Israel is an excellent opportunity to bring them all together under the chuppah.
Thank you, Judge Goldstone. Thank you for reminding us what the real face of the alternative actually looks like.
http://fwd4.me/yvl
Israel doesn't believe UN will rescind Goldstone Report
Despite Netanyahu's fervent demands that the entire damning report be annulled, Foreign Ministry sources say that at best, Israel could try to convince Goldstone to turn his Washington Post op-ed into an official letter to the UN.
Foreign Ministry sources said Sunday that Israel will most probably be unable to bring about the cancellation of the damning Goldstone Report on its conduct during the Gaza war in 2008-09.
Following Judge Richard Goldstone's op-ed in the Washington Post in which he voiced regret about blaming Israel for the intentional targeting of civilians in the report he authored on the Gaza war, Israeli leaders immediately called on the United Nations and international institutions to cancel the damning report.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that the entire report be annulled and assigned National Security Adviser Ya'akov Amidror to set up a joint team of staff from the Foreign, Defense and Justice ministries with the task of formulating political and legal recommendations following Goldstone's article.
Netanyahu said that "we will try to undo some of the damage caused," and that it was his goal "to see the report canceled."
Foreign Ministry sources however said that in the best of circumstances, it might be possible for the UN General Assembly to adopt a new resolution concluding that an earlier resolution, passed a year ago, which fully adopted the Goldstone Report, is no longer valid.
"In the current international realities, in view of Israel's standing and the standstill in the peace process, it is hard to imagine that such a scenario will recur," a Foreign Ministry source said, commenting on the previous instance in which a UN resolution was reversed - in 1991, with the revocation of the infamous 1975 General Assembly Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism.
The Foreign Ministry sources explained that the 1991 move was made possible due to the initiation of the peace process in Madrid and the collapse of the Soviet Union. "The United States took the matter as a project and carried it out to the end," said a Foreign Ministry source.
Officials working on the matter estimated that at the most, Israel could try and convince Goldstone to turn the Washington Post op-ed into a letter to send to UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon and to the UN Human Rights Commissioner. In this way, the article will turn into an official document and have greater political and judicial importance.
Israeli officials hope such a letter could aid in blocking future moves in UN institutions regarding Operation Cast Lead. Moreover, Goldstone's article could be used in the defense of senior Israeli officials should an indictment be served against them.
http://fwd4.me/yvm
Hamas: Do not mix up between Goldstone's personal positions and UN findings
The Hamas Movement said it rejects the confusion between the facts reached by the UN probe team about Israel's war crimes in Gaza and Richard Goldstone's personal and political positions and orientations.
In a press release on Sunday, Hamas slammed Goldstone for bending to pressures that were exerted on him to question the result of the investigation that he led.
The Movement urged the countries and organizations concerned with the UN report and supportive of international justice to uphold the findings that came in the report and to work on activating it through the UN institutions in order to hold Israeli war criminal accountable.
"The report emerged after a field investigation and an observation of the facts on the ground by the international committee that was led by Goldstone himself," Hamas stressed.
"Those facts and incidents were witnessed by many international human rights organizations," it added.
Hamas underlined that questioning the results of the investigation is against ethical and legal principals, especially since it resulted from political pressures put on Goldstone by South-African Zionist organizations which had declared their intents to force him by all means to back down from his position.
For its part, the Palestinian government in Gaza expressed its dismay at Goldstone for backtracking on his position on Gaza war in a newspaper article he wrote a few days ago.
In a statement issued by its ministry of justice, the government said that Goldstone and his family were exposed to many pressures and threats by Israel.
It pointed out that Goldstone wrote his article in response to considerable threats made against him by Israel which is notorious for pressuring international envoys and officials and killing UN mediator Folke Bernadotte in September 1948.
The government also noted that Goldstone report was not the only one which proved the incidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, but there were dozens of reports issued by international and local human rights figures and organizations such as the reports of Richard Falk, Navi Pillay and the Arab League.
http://fwd4.me/yvh
'Goldstone aims to end Israel isolation'
A Palestinian resistance group says the retraction of the head of a UN fact-finding mission from his report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza is aimed at getting Tel Aviv out of international isolation.
On Monday, the Islamic Jihad movement expressed disappointment over the withdrawal of South African judge Richard Goldstone from the findings in his report, Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported.
The fact-finding mission, headed by Goldstone, accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during its onslaught on Gaza at the turn of 2009.
The mission found evidence that Israel committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of willful killings and willfully causing great suffering to protected persons.
But in an article published in Washington Post newspaper on Saturday, Goldstone said that he was wrong to say Israel had deliberately targeted civilians during Gaza war that left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead.
According to senior Islamic Jihad leader Ahmad al-Mudallal, Goldstone's U-turn may encourage Israel to wage a new war against the Gaza Strip and "commit more massacres."
Mudallal also noted that Goldstone made the remarks because of pressures exerted on him by the Zionist lobby."
In a statement released on Sunday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas was surprised by Goldstone's U-turn, which has been made under Israeli pressure.
"Hamas calls on the United Nations to enforce the provisions in the Goldstone report because the report has become an international document," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to withdraw the critical report altogether, saying that the Goldstone report should be formally nullified.
Netanyahu added Israel is to set up a team of legal experts to lessen the massive damage to Tel Aviv caused by the report.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172977.html
What does Goldstone know now?
By Abdul-Hakim Salah
Retired justice Richard Goldstone started his opinion piece published Friday on the Washington Post by saying, "We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report."
However, he strangely did not refer at all in his article to the new information he has gained.
"If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document," the article continued, and again failed to elaborate on even a single instance that would call into question his own findings.
Could the South African justice be hinting that the 400 allegations of operational misconduct in a 22-day military offensive were all baseless thanks to the "significant resources Israel dedicated to investigate those allegations?"
Is it possible that the suggested new version of the Goldstone report could end up blaming the 29 victims of the Samouni family for sending the wrong signals to the Israeli drones?
The family had been hoarded into a single home over the course of three days, as fighting raged in northern Gaza. On the fourth day the home holding the extended family was struck by an Israeli air strike, wiping them out.
Speaking of the Samouni family, Goldstone boasts in his article that the Israeli officer who ordered the attack on the family is being investigated. "While the length of this investigation is frustrating, it appears that an appropriate process is underway, and I am confident that if the officer is found to have been negligent, Israel will respond accordingly."
Excuse my comparison, but this is like investigating a truck driver who runs over pedestrians, and his lawyer tries to convince juries that he did not see them cross the road because he was busy talking to his girlfriend. Investigations in Israel will never find the officer guilty of intentionally shelling civilians. At best, this officer might be found guilty of negligence, and, "accordingly," Israel's response will be a verbal apology.
Only in the seventh paragraph does Goldstone bother to blame Israel for one small thing -- "lack of cooperation with the fact-finding mission" -- and it would have been better if he hadn't. That lack of cooperation rendered the fact-finding mission unable to corroborate how many civilians and how many combatants were killed in Gaza. How about how many homes were leveled?
Seeking more ways to express regret and to sympathize with Israel after the alleged damage which stemmed from the report, the retired jurist strikes the note Israel likes by reminding the UN Human Rights Council to condemn the cold-blooded murder of an Israeli family in Itamar settlement.
I personally strongly condemn this murder and reject any attempts to justify it, and I have heard many Palestinians condemning it. Even though investigations have so far failed to prove the murderer was a Palestinian, West Bank villages and people have already suffered enough punishment both by Ultra-orthodox settlers, who illegally occupy territories acknowledged internationally as Palestinian properties, and by the Israeli government which did not spare a moment to announce new illegal constructions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who found in Goldstone's recent remarks a good opportunity to drive attention from corruption charges -- hurried to call on the UN to "throw the report into the dustbin of history."
Save your efforts Mr Prime Minister because many more important UN resolutions on Palestine have ended up in that dustbin.
"Simply put," as Goldstone ended his article, I believe that whether Israel investigates the alleged war crimes, and whether Hamas abstains, that can never be the international standard to judge whether war crimes were committed or not.
As wise ancestors of humanity once said, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and there are still thousands of pictures telling what happened during the war on Gaza. I am looking forward to seeing a new version of Goldstone report, which according to its main author could be re-compiled "given what he knows now."
Abdul-Hakim Salah is a Palestinian journalist based in Bethlehem and the head of Ma'an's English Desk
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375159
Goldstone or Post
by Curtis F.J. Doebbler
It is unfortunate that Goldstone, after producing a very fair report with two colleagues, has digressed into issuing statements based on false and unfounded opinions rather than the clear facts as in his report. He has done this in a statement attributed to him and published in Washington Post on April Fools Day.
First, he claims Hamas has not investigated the crimes committed during operation Cast Lead, but the fact is that Hamas has instituted multiple investigations into the allegations outlined in the Goldstone Report, and attempted to submit them to UN officials.
If Goldstone made an effort to ask Hamas, he would undoubtedly be shown these reports. If he was dissatisfied, the UN Human Rights Council should invite the Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to Geneva to address them on this issue. I am sure he would accept. Unfortunately, it seems it is easier for Goldstone to make unfounded allegations that are simply false.
Second, Goldstone said in his article in the Washington Post, that he believed non-State actors were bound in the same way as national armies to answer to the allegations outlined in his report. This is simply a wrong interpretation of the law. Yes, there are some provisions of international humanitarian law that may apply to non-state actors, but the vague and over-broad statement that Goldstone makes is just plain wrong and not befitting of an international lawyer of Goldstone's status who should know better.
Third, Goldstone at once insinuates and second guesses the idea that Hamas exaggerated the number of casualties. Why make the dangerous assertion if he neither fully believes it, nor can substantiate it in any way.
Fourth, according to Goldstone, it appears that it is mainly because Hamas is striving for self-determination of the Palestinian people throughout Palestine--as international law requires--that they are guilty. An awkward tautology at best, that finds Palestinians guilty for seeking their full human rights.
As in the initial report, Goldstone fails to mention that operation Caste Lead started because of Israel's provocations. It was not a response to Palestinian violence, as we now know it was an intentionally planned (even with the Palestinians authorities in Ramallah as well as with foreign powers) slaughter of hundreds of Palestinians and the destruction of billions of dollars of infrastructure.
The Post article was at the same time an unusual retreat from an honest and brave position to one of cowering behind the powers supporting Israel's foreign and oppressive occupation of Palestine. It appears to be the sign of a man under terrible pressure or merely a bad April Fools joke.
Curtis F.J. Doebbler is an attorney and a professor of international law at Webster University and the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, both located in Geneva, Switzerland.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375020
3 apr 2011
Lieberman hints Goldstone retraction made under Zionist pressure
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has suggested that Richard Goldstone retracted conclusions that Israel committed war crimes during the 2008-9 war on Gaza because of Israeli pressure applied by both the political and military institutions.
The Goldstone report was the result of a UN Security Council fact-finding mission headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone created to investigate war crimes committed during the war.
Lieberman said in a televised statement on Saturday night that Goldstone's recent statements implicitly disavowing the accusations in the report condemning Israel after the Cast Lead operation on Gaza was no surprise to him.
He said the Israeli ministries of justice and foreign affairs and the office of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had exerted great efforts in that regard without the public knowing.
Goldstone, who is a Zionist himself, told the Washington Post on Friday that the report he issued would have rendered different conclusions if he had the same information he possesses now regarding what happened in the Gaza Strip.
Separately, Israeli President Shimon Peres has called on Goldstone to openly apologize for what was adopted in the UN Security Council report.
Israeli occupation authorities have called on the UN Security Council to cancel the Goldstone report ensuing the recent statements made by the chairman of the fact-finding mission behind it.
http://fwd4.me/yvP
The Truth Does Not Change People
Reports do not have any value other than to people who want to be blind to the truth. When the war was founght in front of many tv camera's and individual accounts testimonies there is no room for later propaganda. There was much propaganda by the Israeli army spokespeople during the war, they made many false statements about careful targetting, and fighters being inside building that were attacked with missiles. Hospitals, schools and civic buildings. Many frightened people seeking refuge were sent into buildings by the israeli army systematically and the building blown up.
The holocaust, if it was as bad as the Israeli's say, would have been reason enough to never stand for injustice again. Israel proves the holocaust to have been a great exageration of the truth. This the reason jewish people do not take any lessons from it.
The Israeli people are going to arrive at a crossroads soon and a tough choice.
New Zealand: Pro-Palestinians hold protest Amid Rivlin's visit
Knesset Chairman Reuven Rivlin, who is currently visiting New Zealand, said that Richard Goldstone is "an integral part of the United Nations, and therefore the whole organization should atone for the report."
Speaking in front of the Jewish Community in Auckland, Rivlin added that Goldstone "managed to not only influence many countries, but also many Israelis." Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside of the building and carried Palestinian flags and signs with slurs against Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051461,00.html
PA: Goldstone caved under pressure
Palestinian Authority, Hamas furious over South African judge's change of heart regarding report accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. 'His comments don't change fact that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza, leaving more than 1,500 Palestinians dead,' says PA spokesperson.
While Israel is overjoyed with Richard Goldstone's change of heart vis-à-vis the report that blamed the Jewish State of committing war crimes during the Gaza war, the Palestinian Authority is furious at the South African judge.
In a press release published on Sunday, Nabil Abu Rodeina, the spokesperson to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that Goldstone's comments "do not change the fact that Israel committed a massacre and war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, leaving more than 1,500 Palestinians dead."
In a conversation with Ynet, head of the PA General Intelligence Service in the West Bank Tawfik Tirawi accused Israel of applying heavy pressure on Goldstone to admit his mistakes. "If Goldstone went back on his word, it was most probably as a result of heavy pressure from Israel, otherwise he would not have done so," he stated.
Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Abed Rabbo also slammed the Jewish judge's Washington Post article during a radio interview on the Voice of Palestine.
Abed Rabbo reiterated the Palestinian position, according to which Israel committed war crimes during the war in Gaza.
'Succumbed to pressure'
Fatah senior official Nabil Shaath claimed that despite Goldstone's comments, Israel still carries the sole responsibililty for the killing of innocent Palestinian citizens.
In an interview with Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam, Shaath estimated that Goldstone succumbed to mounting pressure, which he could no longer bear.
Anger over Goldstone's article transcended beyond Palestinian partisanship, stirring a storm also in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas addressed the United Nations, demanding to implement the report, claiming it was commissioned by the organization, and not personally by Goldstone.
"The (Hamas) organization is disappointed with Goldstone's new stance, which accepts Israel's position," read a statement published by Hamas Spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhari.
Hamas also claimed that Israel refused to cooperate with the fact finding mission and rejected the report's conclusions, while the Islamic group provided the investigation team with all necessary material.
'He doesn't regret it'
In a conversation with Ynet, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative Party Dr. Mustafa Barghouti said he was certain that the South African judge still stands behind what is written in the report.
"I've heard him talk about this issue many times and I know he's sure of what he wrote in the report. I believe he doesn't regret it," said Barghouti.
According to him, aside from Goldstone other people were also behind the report. "He had all the information he needed and it's a fact that Israel refused to accept it. I'm convinced everything that's written there is the truth."
Barghouti admitted Hamas committed war crimes when shooting rockets towards populated areas filled with civilians. However he claimed Israel used disproportionate force. "How many Israelis have been killed and how many Palestinians? You do the math."
He added that he believes it makes no difference what is either said or written. "I was in Gaza after the operation and saw what happened there. What happened was a war crime," he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051442,00.html
Soldiers: Goldstone damage already done
Dozens of IDF soldiers still feel scrutinized over Operation Cast Lead, blame judge's harsh report for tough investigations. Soldier: 'Damage already done'.
Israel demands to retract the Goldstone Report following the regret expressed by Judge Richard Goldstone for his post-Gaza war findings, however many IDF soldiers and commanders still feel very scrutinized.
Goldstone questioned the validity of his own findings regarding Operation Cast Lead in a Washington Post op-ed published on Friday, sparking a heated debate.
A soldier questioned by the Military Police after the operation told Ynet that "the Goldstone Report gave a really strong push to all of this. As far as I'm concerned, him changing his stance does nothing, the damage has already been done."
Dozens of interrogations into the Gaza Strip operation were conducted by the Military Police in the past couple of years. Hundreds of soldiers were subpoenaed to give their testimonies, dozens questioned under advisements. Despite the fact that only three indictments were filed for incidents having to do with the military operation, the feeling among those 'suspected' was harsh.
The Military Advocate General explained that each case was examined individually, however the soldiers are convinced the 'Goldstone atmosphere' contributed to the issue.
"The period following Operation Cast Lead was one of the hardest of my service. Suddenly you're a suspect, they treat you very unkindly. It's absurd that on the one hand we were over there, fighting to return the peace to the south, and on the other hand they make us into some kind of criminals," a soldier who served in the Armored Corps told Ynet.
He was questioned by the Military Police in regards to an incident in which civilians were unintentionally injured by fire coming from an IDF tank. The case was eventually closed and none of the soldiers questioned was put on trial.
"One day I get a phone call telling me I'm subpoenaed for questioning," said a former paratrooper officer. "At first I had know idea what it was about, and when I got there they talked to me about an incident that occurred during the operation. We shot towards a suspected Palestinian %u2013 a completely routine procedure. He was a suspected terrorist and we acted according to the suspect detaining protocol."
The officer, who was questioned numerous times, said he felt humiliated. "I've never been inside an interrogation room, it felt disgusting," he said.
Investigators remember Goldstone
Lieberman hints Goldstone retraction made under Zionist pressure
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has suggested that Richard Goldstone retracted conclusions that Israel committed war crimes during the 2008-9 war on Gaza because of Israeli pressure applied by both the political and military institutions.
The Goldstone report was the result of a UN Security Council fact-finding mission headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone created to investigate war crimes committed during the war.
Lieberman said in a televised statement on Saturday night that Goldstone's recent statements implicitly disavowing the accusations in the report condemning Israel after the Cast Lead operation on Gaza was no surprise to him.
He said the Israeli ministries of justice and foreign affairs and the office of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had exerted great efforts in that regard without the public knowing.
Goldstone, who is a Zionist himself, told the Washington Post on Friday that the report he issued would have rendered different conclusions if he had the same information he possesses now regarding what happened in the Gaza Strip.
Separately, Israeli President Shimon Peres has called on Goldstone to openly apologize for what was adopted in the UN Security Council report.
Israeli occupation authorities have called on the UN Security Council to cancel the Goldstone report ensuing the recent statements made by the chairman of the fact-finding mission behind it.
http://fwd4.me/yvP
The Truth Does Not Change People
Reports do not have any value other than to people who want to be blind to the truth. When the war was founght in front of many tv camera's and individual accounts testimonies there is no room for later propaganda. There was much propaganda by the Israeli army spokespeople during the war, they made many false statements about careful targetting, and fighters being inside building that were attacked with missiles. Hospitals, schools and civic buildings. Many frightened people seeking refuge were sent into buildings by the israeli army systematically and the building blown up.
The holocaust, if it was as bad as the Israeli's say, would have been reason enough to never stand for injustice again. Israel proves the holocaust to have been a great exageration of the truth. This the reason jewish people do not take any lessons from it.
The Israeli people are going to arrive at a crossroads soon and a tough choice.
New Zealand: Pro-Palestinians hold protest Amid Rivlin's visit
Knesset Chairman Reuven Rivlin, who is currently visiting New Zealand, said that Richard Goldstone is "an integral part of the United Nations, and therefore the whole organization should atone for the report."
Speaking in front of the Jewish Community in Auckland, Rivlin added that Goldstone "managed to not only influence many countries, but also many Israelis." Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside of the building and carried Palestinian flags and signs with slurs against Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051461,00.html
PA: Goldstone caved under pressure
Palestinian Authority, Hamas furious over South African judge's change of heart regarding report accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. 'His comments don't change fact that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza, leaving more than 1,500 Palestinians dead,' says PA spokesperson.
While Israel is overjoyed with Richard Goldstone's change of heart vis-à-vis the report that blamed the Jewish State of committing war crimes during the Gaza war, the Palestinian Authority is furious at the South African judge.
In a press release published on Sunday, Nabil Abu Rodeina, the spokesperson to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that Goldstone's comments "do not change the fact that Israel committed a massacre and war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, leaving more than 1,500 Palestinians dead."
In a conversation with Ynet, head of the PA General Intelligence Service in the West Bank Tawfik Tirawi accused Israel of applying heavy pressure on Goldstone to admit his mistakes. "If Goldstone went back on his word, it was most probably as a result of heavy pressure from Israel, otherwise he would not have done so," he stated.
Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Abed Rabbo also slammed the Jewish judge's Washington Post article during a radio interview on the Voice of Palestine.
Abed Rabbo reiterated the Palestinian position, according to which Israel committed war crimes during the war in Gaza.
'Succumbed to pressure'
Fatah senior official Nabil Shaath claimed that despite Goldstone's comments, Israel still carries the sole responsibililty for the killing of innocent Palestinian citizens.
In an interview with Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam, Shaath estimated that Goldstone succumbed to mounting pressure, which he could no longer bear.
Anger over Goldstone's article transcended beyond Palestinian partisanship, stirring a storm also in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas addressed the United Nations, demanding to implement the report, claiming it was commissioned by the organization, and not personally by Goldstone.
"The (Hamas) organization is disappointed with Goldstone's new stance, which accepts Israel's position," read a statement published by Hamas Spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhari.
Hamas also claimed that Israel refused to cooperate with the fact finding mission and rejected the report's conclusions, while the Islamic group provided the investigation team with all necessary material.
'He doesn't regret it'
In a conversation with Ynet, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative Party Dr. Mustafa Barghouti said he was certain that the South African judge still stands behind what is written in the report.
"I've heard him talk about this issue many times and I know he's sure of what he wrote in the report. I believe he doesn't regret it," said Barghouti.
According to him, aside from Goldstone other people were also behind the report. "He had all the information he needed and it's a fact that Israel refused to accept it. I'm convinced everything that's written there is the truth."
Barghouti admitted Hamas committed war crimes when shooting rockets towards populated areas filled with civilians. However he claimed Israel used disproportionate force. "How many Israelis have been killed and how many Palestinians? You do the math."
He added that he believes it makes no difference what is either said or written. "I was in Gaza after the operation and saw what happened there. What happened was a war crime," he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051442,00.html
Soldiers: Goldstone damage already done
Dozens of IDF soldiers still feel scrutinized over Operation Cast Lead, blame judge's harsh report for tough investigations. Soldier: 'Damage already done'.
Israel demands to retract the Goldstone Report following the regret expressed by Judge Richard Goldstone for his post-Gaza war findings, however many IDF soldiers and commanders still feel very scrutinized.
Goldstone questioned the validity of his own findings regarding Operation Cast Lead in a Washington Post op-ed published on Friday, sparking a heated debate.
A soldier questioned by the Military Police after the operation told Ynet that "the Goldstone Report gave a really strong push to all of this. As far as I'm concerned, him changing his stance does nothing, the damage has already been done."
Dozens of interrogations into the Gaza Strip operation were conducted by the Military Police in the past couple of years. Hundreds of soldiers were subpoenaed to give their testimonies, dozens questioned under advisements. Despite the fact that only three indictments were filed for incidents having to do with the military operation, the feeling among those 'suspected' was harsh.
The Military Advocate General explained that each case was examined individually, however the soldiers are convinced the 'Goldstone atmosphere' contributed to the issue.
"The period following Operation Cast Lead was one of the hardest of my service. Suddenly you're a suspect, they treat you very unkindly. It's absurd that on the one hand we were over there, fighting to return the peace to the south, and on the other hand they make us into some kind of criminals," a soldier who served in the Armored Corps told Ynet.
He was questioned by the Military Police in regards to an incident in which civilians were unintentionally injured by fire coming from an IDF tank. The case was eventually closed and none of the soldiers questioned was put on trial.
"One day I get a phone call telling me I'm subpoenaed for questioning," said a former paratrooper officer. "At first I had know idea what it was about, and when I got there they talked to me about an incident that occurred during the operation. We shot towards a suspected Palestinian %u2013 a completely routine procedure. He was a suspected terrorist and we acted according to the suspect detaining protocol."
The officer, who was questioned numerous times, said he felt humiliated. "I've never been inside an interrogation room, it felt disgusting," he said.
Investigators remember Goldstone
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Aside from personal feelings, the investigations often prevented the officer and his colleagues from being promoted, or affected their decision of whether or not to stay in the army.
Soldiers who spent time in the investigation rooms, as well as those who were summoned to testify, and claim that not once were they asked to indicate their friends, said that Goldstone's name came up many times by investigators. "The moment there is an interrogation going on no one is there to support you, even the commanders, who are supportive of you, are afraid to speak," said the former Armored Corps soldier. He added that some of those interrogated were forced "to pay huge |
amounts of money to lawyers and lived in uncertainly for months. Investigations should be made, but there was an atmosphere here without a doubt, there was pressure, even for the investigators, you could feel it."
The soldiers who were taken to investigation rooms, even if just to give their testimony, are convinced that if not for the Goldstone Report being written the way it was, there were far fewer inquiries.
"There are always inadequacies and not such great events, but that's why there is an investigation of the operation," admitted the former paratrooper officer. "There was no operation with a more legitimate basis than this one, and you could understand, even just by conversations between commanders, that the soldiers clearly understand who was to be targeted and who wasn't. If a civilian was injured you should check with Hamas why they used him inside a booby-trapped building. Even an army that wants to be exonerated and appear proper as one who can examine itself must set limits."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051542,00.html
Barak: Goldstone must face UN
Defense minister says South African judge's regret over Gaza war report is 'very important', but that Israel will 'make him' express regret in international forum as well. PM Netanyahu: We'll work to demand justice Israel deserves.
Two days after Judge Richard Goldstone expressed his regret over his accusations against Israel in his Gaza war report, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that "Goldstone's article is very important, but it's too little and too late. We'll make him face an international United Nations forum and speak out."
Although Goldstone also said Israel should have cooperated with the UN investigation into Operation Cast Lead, Barak does not regret the decision not to cooperate with the South African judge's team. "It's good that we rejected it," he told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Barak reiterated that the Goldstone report was distorted and called the committee's appointment a "blood libel". "Goldstone was asked to look into IDF war crimes, and only a senseless government could have accepted such a thing."
The defense minister explained that "it's very important not to cooperate with a committee sent by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is a delusional forum of Israel's rivals."
He stressed that Israel handed the UN a report of hundreds of pages on the independent investigations it conducted after the Gaza operation. "Goldstone knew everything he needed to know, all the facts on the Israeli side, but he ignored them."
Goldstone wrote in a Washington Post article published Friday, "If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document."
Livnat: Leftist groups must apologize
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the cabinet meeting, "There are very few cases in which libel plotters regret their libel. This is happening now with the Goldstone Report, when all the things we said have proved to be true.
"Israel did not intentionally target civilians, as opposed to Hamas, which intentionally targeted and murdered citizens. We will work to demand the justice Israel deserves," he said.
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat called on Israel's left-wing organizations to apologize, as Goldstone did. "Elements like the New Israel Fund, which provided distorted material, should self-examine themselves.
"I would like to see at least one of them say, 'I was wrong, I made a mistake,' at least like Goldstone did. I would like to see them work to distribute the truth worldwide."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051250,00.html
Olmert on Goldstone: Too little, too late
Former PM, who launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, says regret over UN report which accused Israel of war crimes won't change a thing, as damage has already been done. Ex-Minister Herzog: Israel's refusal to cooperate with panel was a fatal mistake.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Saturday night that Judge Richard Goldstone's regret over the 575-page report he published in 2009, accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, won't change a thing as damage has already been done.
According to Olmert, Goldstone's remarks in a Washington Post article are "too little, too late, after the damage has already been done. We don't need his comments to know that we acted in accordance with international law."
The former prime minister mentioned in a closed forum that after Operation Cast Lead his government had cooperated with the committees appointed by the United Nations secretary-general, which acted impartially.
His associates noted that the Goldstone Report was born in an organization which has some members that violate human rights. "The UN committees determined what Goldstone said today, so there is no need to address his remarks," one of Olmert's aides said.
Former Justice Minister Prof. Daniel Friedmann told Ynet that "the appointment of the Goldstone Committee and its members were biased against Israel from the very beginning, and under such circumstances Israel was completely right in its refusal to cooperate with such a committee.
"The report itself is completely groundless, and this stands out in the report itself. Goldstone's attempt to reconsider the report, at least partially, is a small step which is not enough to fix the unjustified damage caused.
"Still, the explanations he gives for the errors in the report are pathetic. The fact that he regrets the fact that the report had no effect on Hamas' conduct points to naivety and lack of any connection to reality and to the meaning of terror. It was clear that the report itself would serve to encourage terror, and that's exactly what happened in reality."
Herzog: We were wrong not to cooperate
But not everyone agrees Israel should have avoided cooperating with the Goldstone panel. Knesset Member Isaac Herzog (Labor) was the only minister who asked to cooperate with the committee. "The report came out as it did because we failed to cooperate. Today it has been proven that my claim was right," he told Ynet on Saturday.
"The ministerial committee headed by (Foreign Minister Avigdor) Lieberman made a fatal mistake in its decision not to cooperate with the committee. As the only minister who voted in favor of cooperating, I was faced by a brick wall of thought fixation. Had we presented out side properly, we could have convinced Goldstone of the rightness of our actions, as he was open to hear the Israeli side."
Herzog says (Defense Minister Ehud) Barak, (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and Lieberman "adopted the stance that we must not cooperate, as the committee had allegedly marked its target. But Goldstone did not come from a hostile place. The report must be erased from history, but this does not cancel the fact that what was decided in Israel was a bad decision.
"When we believe in our stance, we must not be afraid and present it clearly. The failure to present Israel's stand to the committee caused diplomatic damage, and there is no doubt that Goldstone's remarks today will not receive the same coverage as the report received when it was published."
Prime Minister Netanyahu called on the UN to retract the Goldstone report immediately. "Everything we said was proven to be true. Israel did not willfully harm civilians," Netanyahu explained, adding, "Israel's investigating authorities are worthy, while Hamas investigated nothing. The fact that Goldstone withdrew his conclusions must lead to the retraction of the report once and for all."
Netanyahu added that "the biggest absurdity is that the United Nation's Human Rights Council initiated the report, and one of its members was Gaddafi's Libya. Therefore we must toss this report into the trash can of history."
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who is a member of the Security Cabinet, noted that "the UN Human Rights Council, which Libya was a member of not so long ago, is a biased, hypocrite and anti-Israel body. They ignored the firing of missiles on hundreds of thousands of Israelis for years, and the last thing they care about is human rights."
Gaza largely ignoring article
But while Goldstone's article caused quite a stir in Israel, most of the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip media channels chose to ignore the judge's statement. The PA had demanded at the time to withdraw the report from the United Nations' vote due to heavy pressure from the United States.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative Party, had criticized this decision, claiming "it serves the Israeli occupation."
Barghouti told Ynet on Saturday he is certain Goldstone stands behind his report: "I've heard him talk about this issue many times and I know he's sure of what he wrote in the report. I believe he doesn't regret it."
According to him, aside from Goldstone other people were also behind the report. "He had all the information he needed and it's a fact that Israel refused to accept it. I'm convinced everything that's written there is the truth."
Barghouti admitted Hamas committed war crimes when shooting rockets towards populated areas filled with civilians. However he claimed Israel used disproportionate force. "How many Israelis have been killed and how many Palestinians? You do the math."
He added that he believes it makes no difference what is either said or written. "I was in Gaza after the operation and saw what happened there. What happened was a war crime," he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051182,00.html
The soldiers who were taken to investigation rooms, even if just to give their testimony, are convinced that if not for the Goldstone Report being written the way it was, there were far fewer inquiries.
"There are always inadequacies and not such great events, but that's why there is an investigation of the operation," admitted the former paratrooper officer. "There was no operation with a more legitimate basis than this one, and you could understand, even just by conversations between commanders, that the soldiers clearly understand who was to be targeted and who wasn't. If a civilian was injured you should check with Hamas why they used him inside a booby-trapped building. Even an army that wants to be exonerated and appear proper as one who can examine itself must set limits."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051542,00.html
Barak: Goldstone must face UN
Defense minister says South African judge's regret over Gaza war report is 'very important', but that Israel will 'make him' express regret in international forum as well. PM Netanyahu: We'll work to demand justice Israel deserves.
Two days after Judge Richard Goldstone expressed his regret over his accusations against Israel in his Gaza war report, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that "Goldstone's article is very important, but it's too little and too late. We'll make him face an international United Nations forum and speak out."
Although Goldstone also said Israel should have cooperated with the UN investigation into Operation Cast Lead, Barak does not regret the decision not to cooperate with the South African judge's team. "It's good that we rejected it," he told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Barak reiterated that the Goldstone report was distorted and called the committee's appointment a "blood libel". "Goldstone was asked to look into IDF war crimes, and only a senseless government could have accepted such a thing."
The defense minister explained that "it's very important not to cooperate with a committee sent by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is a delusional forum of Israel's rivals."
He stressed that Israel handed the UN a report of hundreds of pages on the independent investigations it conducted after the Gaza operation. "Goldstone knew everything he needed to know, all the facts on the Israeli side, but he ignored them."
Goldstone wrote in a Washington Post article published Friday, "If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document."
Livnat: Leftist groups must apologize
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the cabinet meeting, "There are very few cases in which libel plotters regret their libel. This is happening now with the Goldstone Report, when all the things we said have proved to be true.
"Israel did not intentionally target civilians, as opposed to Hamas, which intentionally targeted and murdered citizens. We will work to demand the justice Israel deserves," he said.
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat called on Israel's left-wing organizations to apologize, as Goldstone did. "Elements like the New Israel Fund, which provided distorted material, should self-examine themselves.
"I would like to see at least one of them say, 'I was wrong, I made a mistake,' at least like Goldstone did. I would like to see them work to distribute the truth worldwide."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051250,00.html
Olmert on Goldstone: Too little, too late
Former PM, who launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, says regret over UN report which accused Israel of war crimes won't change a thing, as damage has already been done. Ex-Minister Herzog: Israel's refusal to cooperate with panel was a fatal mistake.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Saturday night that Judge Richard Goldstone's regret over the 575-page report he published in 2009, accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, won't change a thing as damage has already been done.
According to Olmert, Goldstone's remarks in a Washington Post article are "too little, too late, after the damage has already been done. We don't need his comments to know that we acted in accordance with international law."
The former prime minister mentioned in a closed forum that after Operation Cast Lead his government had cooperated with the committees appointed by the United Nations secretary-general, which acted impartially.
His associates noted that the Goldstone Report was born in an organization which has some members that violate human rights. "The UN committees determined what Goldstone said today, so there is no need to address his remarks," one of Olmert's aides said.
Former Justice Minister Prof. Daniel Friedmann told Ynet that "the appointment of the Goldstone Committee and its members were biased against Israel from the very beginning, and under such circumstances Israel was completely right in its refusal to cooperate with such a committee.
"The report itself is completely groundless, and this stands out in the report itself. Goldstone's attempt to reconsider the report, at least partially, is a small step which is not enough to fix the unjustified damage caused.
"Still, the explanations he gives for the errors in the report are pathetic. The fact that he regrets the fact that the report had no effect on Hamas' conduct points to naivety and lack of any connection to reality and to the meaning of terror. It was clear that the report itself would serve to encourage terror, and that's exactly what happened in reality."
Herzog: We were wrong not to cooperate
But not everyone agrees Israel should have avoided cooperating with the Goldstone panel. Knesset Member Isaac Herzog (Labor) was the only minister who asked to cooperate with the committee. "The report came out as it did because we failed to cooperate. Today it has been proven that my claim was right," he told Ynet on Saturday.
"The ministerial committee headed by (Foreign Minister Avigdor) Lieberman made a fatal mistake in its decision not to cooperate with the committee. As the only minister who voted in favor of cooperating, I was faced by a brick wall of thought fixation. Had we presented out side properly, we could have convinced Goldstone of the rightness of our actions, as he was open to hear the Israeli side."
Herzog says (Defense Minister Ehud) Barak, (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and Lieberman "adopted the stance that we must not cooperate, as the committee had allegedly marked its target. But Goldstone did not come from a hostile place. The report must be erased from history, but this does not cancel the fact that what was decided in Israel was a bad decision.
"When we believe in our stance, we must not be afraid and present it clearly. The failure to present Israel's stand to the committee caused diplomatic damage, and there is no doubt that Goldstone's remarks today will not receive the same coverage as the report received when it was published."
Prime Minister Netanyahu called on the UN to retract the Goldstone report immediately. "Everything we said was proven to be true. Israel did not willfully harm civilians," Netanyahu explained, adding, "Israel's investigating authorities are worthy, while Hamas investigated nothing. The fact that Goldstone withdrew his conclusions must lead to the retraction of the report once and for all."
Netanyahu added that "the biggest absurdity is that the United Nation's Human Rights Council initiated the report, and one of its members was Gaddafi's Libya. Therefore we must toss this report into the trash can of history."
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who is a member of the Security Cabinet, noted that "the UN Human Rights Council, which Libya was a member of not so long ago, is a biased, hypocrite and anti-Israel body. They ignored the firing of missiles on hundreds of thousands of Israelis for years, and the last thing they care about is human rights."
Gaza largely ignoring article
But while Goldstone's article caused quite a stir in Israel, most of the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip media channels chose to ignore the judge's statement. The PA had demanded at the time to withdraw the report from the United Nations' vote due to heavy pressure from the United States.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative Party, had criticized this decision, claiming "it serves the Israeli occupation."
Barghouti told Ynet on Saturday he is certain Goldstone stands behind his report: "I've heard him talk about this issue many times and I know he's sure of what he wrote in the report. I believe he doesn't regret it."
According to him, aside from Goldstone other people were also behind the report. "He had all the information he needed and it's a fact that Israel refused to accept it. I'm convinced everything that's written there is the truth."
Barghouti admitted Hamas committed war crimes when shooting rockets towards populated areas filled with civilians. However he claimed Israel used disproportionate force. "How many Israelis have been killed and how many Palestinians? You do the math."
He added that he believes it makes no difference what is either said or written. "I was in Gaza after the operation and saw what happened there. What happened was a war crime," he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051182,00.html
