Seventy three year old Richard Joseph Goldstone must be either a terminally-ill man, an extremely-befuddled man, or both. Seriously sick people tend to try to make amends before they meet their Maker; confused people often mistake fantasy for reality.
Goldstone, a former and eminent South African judge, made his mark on the bench by undermining South Africa’s apartheid laws with his rulings advancing the rights of that nation’s majority blacks, thereby leading to the end of discrimination by minority whites. He subsequently served as chief prosecutor for the U.N.’s trials of war criminals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
He is evidently an avid proponent of majority rule as well as a sincere advocate for the oppressed. Sometimes.
His advocacy came under fire from the world’s Jewish community and especially from Israel when Goldstone, a non-religious Jew, personally investigated the 3-week Israeli Gaza war of 2008-2009 and the United Nations issued the Goldstone Report, officially titled, “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.”
The final version of that scathing report, issued in April 2009, charged Israel’s IDF with a systematic, official policy of inflicting undue punishment on civilians in Gaza and violating international humanitarian and human rights law. It also deleted most references to Hamas atrocities and focused on the disproportionality of Israel’s retaliation.
The investigation and report had been commisioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council, a fact that made it suspect from the outset. The U.N. is notorious for its anti-Semitism and the UNHRC includes China, Cuba, and Pakistan among its 47 members but, still, Goldstone was a Jew and his religion added a significant credibility factor.
Not unexpectedly, he was reviled in Israel and elsewhere by Israel supporters as a wayward jurist suffering from a “moral inversion” who “preserved his judicial reputation while perpetrating a blood libel against Israel” and with worse epithets, all because he had dared expose Israeli war crimes against humanity, in Gaza just as he had exposed comparable crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the evil of apartheid in South Africa.
In effect, Goldstone was characterized as a Jew-hating Jew.
Fast forward to April of this year when the jurist had an epiphany, a religious attack, a re-examination of conscience, a re-evaluation of perceptions. Call it what you will, Goldstone retracted and contradicted much of what he had witnessed on his fact-finding mission to Gaza just two years earlier.
See his retraction, . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5942.)
Showing posts with label GAZA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GAZA. Show all posts
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Richard Goldstone's Gaza Epiphany
Richard Goldstone's Gaza Epiphany
Richard Goldstone isn’t exactly a familiar household name in America. However, in Israel, Goldstone was very well known until very recently as a Jewish apostate, a label he tried to shuck when he issued a retraction of his previous allegations of Israeli atrocities commited during the Gaza war of 2008-2009.
Briefly, Goldstone, an eminent Jewish South African judge, saw his name affixed to a United Nations’ report on that 3-week war. As a result of the Goldstone Report, commisioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council, he was reviled in Israel and elsewhere by Israel supporters as a wayward jurist suffering from a “moral inversion” who “preserved his judicial reputation while perpetrating a blood libel against Israel” and with worse epithets because he had dared to expose Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
The Goldstone Report charged Israel’s IDF with a systematic, official policy to inflict punishment on civilians in Gaza. Titled, “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,” the English language pdf version may be read here in its entirety: http://bit.ly/1BjEXr
The final version issued by the anti-Semitic U.N. HRC deleted most references to Hamas atrocities and focused on the disproportionality of Israel’s retaliation. Fourteen Israeli settlers had been killed in unprovoked Hamas missile attacks; some 700 enemy combatants were killed by the IDF as well as 714 Gaza civilians including at least 412 children. (Hamas claimed 1200 dead children.)
The Goldstone Report concluded that Israel, which touts itself as having “the most moral army in the world,” committed the most heinous crimes imaginable against defenseless Gazan non-combatatants.
There was no question that the IDF was battling a grossly amoral enemy which had secreted weaponry in mosques, hospitals, and schools and had launched missile atttacks from private homes, and Israel contends it gave advance warnings, none of which mitigates Israeli war crimes.
On April 1, 2011, coincidentally April Fools Day, Goldstone issued a retraction of the Goldstone Report. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4151)
Richard Goldstone isn’t exactly a familiar household name in America. However, in Israel, Goldstone was very well known until very recently as a Jewish apostate, a label he tried to shuck when he issued a retraction of his previous allegations of Israeli atrocities commited during the Gaza war of 2008-2009.
Briefly, Goldstone, an eminent Jewish South African judge, saw his name affixed to a United Nations’ report on that 3-week war. As a result of the Goldstone Report, commisioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council, he was reviled in Israel and elsewhere by Israel supporters as a wayward jurist suffering from a “moral inversion” who “preserved his judicial reputation while perpetrating a blood libel against Israel” and with worse epithets because he had dared to expose Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
The Goldstone Report charged Israel’s IDF with a systematic, official policy to inflict punishment on civilians in Gaza. Titled, “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,” the English language pdf version may be read here in its entirety: http://bit.ly/1BjEXr
The final version issued by the anti-Semitic U.N. HRC deleted most references to Hamas atrocities and focused on the disproportionality of Israel’s retaliation. Fourteen Israeli settlers had been killed in unprovoked Hamas missile attacks; some 700 enemy combatants were killed by the IDF as well as 714 Gaza civilians including at least 412 children. (Hamas claimed 1200 dead children.)
The Goldstone Report concluded that Israel, which touts itself as having “the most moral army in the world,” committed the most heinous crimes imaginable against defenseless Gazan non-combatatants.
There was no question that the IDF was battling a grossly amoral enemy which had secreted weaponry in mosques, hospitals, and schools and had launched missile atttacks from private homes, and Israel contends it gave advance warnings, none of which mitigates Israeli war crimes.
On April 1, 2011, coincidentally April Fools Day, Goldstone issued a retraction of the Goldstone Report. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4151)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Gaza and Israel: Disproportioned Priorities
Gaza and Israel: Disproportioned Atrocities
A few weeks back, I posted an article here, “Israeli War Crimes in Gaza,” http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1379, which was met with some, shall we say, disputation?
The piece was not designed to be an exercise in flame-throwing or in anti-Semitism, charges which usually follow any critique, no matter how objective, of the state of Israel
Rather, the article attempted to distinguish the unvarnished truth about the admittedly-provoked 2009 attack on Gaza.
One Jewish critic of the exercise of grossly disproportionate power and the wildly disproportionate civilian casualties between the combatants, the emininent jurist, Richard Goldstone, was rudely dismissed as a wayward judge who had suffered a “moral inversion.”
In sum, his implicit immorality rested on the very shaky premise that the military actions of the Israeli Defense Force, the IDF, were all justifiable and well within the bounds of Geneva Convention war prohibitions. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1403)
A few weeks back, I posted an article here, “Israeli War Crimes in Gaza,” http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1379, which was met with some, shall we say, disputation?
The piece was not designed to be an exercise in flame-throwing or in anti-Semitism, charges which usually follow any critique, no matter how objective, of the state of Israel
Rather, the article attempted to distinguish the unvarnished truth about the admittedly-provoked 2009 attack on Gaza.
One Jewish critic of the exercise of grossly disproportionate power and the wildly disproportionate civilian casualties between the combatants, the emininent jurist, Richard Goldstone, was rudely dismissed as a wayward judge who had suffered a “moral inversion.”
In sum, his implicit immorality rested on the very shaky premise that the military actions of the Israeli Defense Force, the IDF, were all justifiable and well within the bounds of Geneva Convention war prohibitions. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1403)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
No Soup Addenda
No Soup Addenda
No soup, sex, cool, carols, class, SEALs, or goyim for you!
. No soup or sex for you: “Just when every tactic in the book had been seemingly exhausted in the health care debate, Rock the Vote comes along with a new one: If you want health care reform, don’t sleep with anyone who opposes health care reform until his or her mind is changed:” http://bit.ly/7EPBv9
Or if he dumps you?
. No soup and no cool for you: “Eco-messages from some of the world’s top celebrity tyrants. . . the UNFCCC ‘high-level’ speaking lineup included officials of Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Laos, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Belarus and the man himself, fixture of any major UN shindig, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran:” http://bit.ly/4Xhk1x
Nice, fair UN Eco-lineup. . .
(Read more @ http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1389)
No soup, sex, cool, carols, class, SEALs, or goyim for you!
. No soup or sex for you: “Just when every tactic in the book had been seemingly exhausted in the health care debate, Rock the Vote comes along with a new one: If you want health care reform, don’t sleep with anyone who opposes health care reform until his or her mind is changed:” http://bit.ly/7EPBv9
Or if he dumps you?
. No soup and no cool for you: “Eco-messages from some of the world’s top celebrity tyrants. . . the UNFCCC ‘high-level’ speaking lineup included officials of Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Laos, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Belarus and the man himself, fixture of any major UN shindig, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran:” http://bit.ly/4Xhk1x
Nice, fair UN Eco-lineup. . .
(Read more @ http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1389)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
Eminent South African judge Richard Goldstone’s blistering indictment of Israeli war crimes during the brief Gaza War of a year ago was met with equally-blistering rebuttals by Israel and its supporters who seem to overlook the significant fact that Goldstone is a Jew.
In a flight of distorted fancy, one Israel-defender accused Goldstone of “a moral inversion” who “has preserved his judicial reputation while perpetrating a blood libel against Israel:” http://bit.ly/5Ctff.
Relaying the truth must have become immoral and libelous while I wasn’t watching.
Appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council as Chairman of an investigative body commissioned to explore human rights abuses during that 3-week war, Goldstone’s findings did criticize both Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, but reserved the bulk of its condemnation for the nation of Israel.
To be sure, the U.N. HRC is a much-tainted body, as is the United Nations itself, but Goldstone is a highly-regarded objective jurist who exhaustively researched the actions of both sides in Gaza before issuing what has become known as the Goldstone Report.
Officially titled “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,” the English language pdf version may be read here in its entirety: http://bit.ly/1BjEXr
In line with its usual bias, and to Goldstone’s consternation, the top-heavy anti-Israel U.N. council then deleted sections dealing with war crimes committed by Hamas, et al. . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1379)
Eminent South African judge Richard Goldstone’s blistering indictment of Israeli war crimes during the brief Gaza War of a year ago was met with equally-blistering rebuttals by Israel and its supporters who seem to overlook the significant fact that Goldstone is a Jew.
In a flight of distorted fancy, one Israel-defender accused Goldstone of “a moral inversion” who “has preserved his judicial reputation while perpetrating a blood libel against Israel:” http://bit.ly/5Ctff.
Relaying the truth must have become immoral and libelous while I wasn’t watching.
Appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council as Chairman of an investigative body commissioned to explore human rights abuses during that 3-week war, Goldstone’s findings did criticize both Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, but reserved the bulk of its condemnation for the nation of Israel.
To be sure, the U.N. HRC is a much-tainted body, as is the United Nations itself, but Goldstone is a highly-regarded objective jurist who exhaustively researched the actions of both sides in Gaza before issuing what has become known as the Goldstone Report.
Officially titled “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,” the English language pdf version may be read here in its entirety: http://bit.ly/1BjEXr
In line with its usual bias, and to Goldstone’s consternation, the top-heavy anti-Israel U.N. council then deleted sections dealing with war crimes committed by Hamas, et al. . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1379)
Monday, January 5, 2009
2009: NO ONE EVER SAID IT WOULD BE A FUN YEAR
Recent news reports attest to one truism concerning the human condition: the more things change, the worse things get. New years used to bring with them new hopes and notable changes. With all of five days down in A.D. 2009, this year promises to be one for the record books, and not for setting good records.
Three illustrative examples:
ONE: War Is Hell
William Tecumseh Sherman is credited with the brutally honest observation that “War is hell,” but the ongoing Gaza conflict has added a whole new dimension to that sage reflection.
Death and destruction are the handmaidens attendant on any war and collateral damage is always a sad and unfortunate by-product, but when it comes to the deaths of children as a facet of that damage, then bloody battles seem bloodier by far.
The savage forces of Hamas have taken the horror of war a step further. Rather than respecting the victims of an Israeli bomb attack, they chose to exhibit the lifeless bodies of the dead children of Hamas leader Nizar Rayan in a bizarre and ghastly funeral march.
Not content with simply tarnishing Israel with the fact that Israelis had killed ten of his children and his four wives, Hamas employed Rayan’s dead children as props in the battle for world opinion, brazenly and shamelessly parading them in all their grisliness for all the world to see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1104296/Bodies-Hamas-leaders-children-paraded-group-promises-painful-revenge-deaths.html.
Israel’s hands are filthy in the assault on Gaza but, compared to Hamas’, they are pristine. Both sides are proving Sherman correct. War is indeed hell but some hells are worse than others.
TWO: More Flying Dirt
President-elect Barack Hussein Obama is finding that the path to his new residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is more pockmarked and potholed than the rocky road to Dublin. Teflon-coated during the presidential campaign when slime such as Ayers and Dohrn and Rezko and Wright failed to stick to his hallowed garments, Obama is discovering his media-generated mystique doesn’t extend to his retinue.
It seems transitioning is even more challenging than bowling.
First, it was soon-to-be hatchet man/chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel...
(Read the rest of this article at http://genelalor.com/.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)