AxisMundi Jerusalem
Inside Israel and the Palestinian Territories
Operation Goldstone?
Israeli media reacted strongly to the report issued by the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which criticised both the Israeli military and Palestinian militants for actions that could be considered war crimes during the December-January Gaza War. A “declaration of war” and “classic anti-Semitism” against Israel were some of the descriptions used by the Israeli media . (Read more about the report here.)
The media reports noted that Justice Richard Goldstone, a South African, is Jewish.
Media coverage in Israel generally addressed the question of the report’s factual accuracy. Commentators also cited fears in Israel that on the basis of the report, its military officers and politicians could face foreign prosecution, during overseas trips, for alleged crimes against humanity. All agreed the Goldstone report would cause further damage to Israel’s international image.
“Hundreds of millions throughout the world were exposed to [the report], and they do not read the details (in this case, the negative details), but only buy the headlines. In their eyes, we are war criminals, contemptible people, killers of small children,” wrote Eitan Haber in a commentary which ran under the headline “This is a declaration of war” in the leading Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. “This, at the moment, is the image that is being created for us throughout the world as villains, evil, cruel, murderers.”
An opinion piece in the Israel Hayom daily called the 575-report for the United Nations as “classic anti-Semitism in liberal thinking patterns”. The newspaper described as “a hypocrisy” the appointment of Judge Goldstone, who is Jewish, to head the committee.
Goldstone’s daughter Nicole Goldstone, who once lived in Israel, said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio that her father is a Zionist.
In the firing line
Israel’s military has been hit with a barrage of human rights reports this week. One, by the Israeli human rights group Gisha, criticises Israel’s policy of banning Palestinians from leaving the Gaza strip. The Red Cross has also filed a report, “Gaza: 1.5 Million People Trapped in Despair,” as well as a film(Gaza: Paying the Price) criticising Israel’s three-week incursion into Gaza last winter, known as “Operation Cast Lead.”
Meanwhile, former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone has begun collecting evidence about Operation Cast Lead for the UN Human Rights Council.
This week also saw a report on Gaza filed by Amnesty International as well as one by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which accuses Israel of using drones that killed civilians: “Drone operators can clearly see their targets on the ground and also divert their missiles after launch,” said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. “Given these capabilities, Israel needs to explain why these civilian deaths took place.”
A recent report by Reuters’ Dan Williams discusses the HRW report, including critiques of the group’s research by some military analysts:
“The value of such forensics was disputed by Robert Hewson, editor of Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons. “Human Rights Watch makes a lot of claims and assumptions about weapons and drones, all of which is still fairly speculative, because we have so little evidence,” Hewson said…Despite his misgivings about the report, Hewson said it pointed to a broader problem of Israeli military doctrine. “What Israel has is total intelligence, surveillance, and reconaissance (over Gaza), which makes it extremely difficult for them to deny they knew who they were shooting at most of the time.”
Read Dan’s entire article here.
Several columnists in the Israeli media have come to the IDF’s defence. In the Jerusalem Post, Alan Dershowitz’s blog (Called the “Double Standard Watch”) has a new article, “The UN Kangaroo Investigations,” which states that ” The very mandate that authorized the Gaza investigation reveals its bias against Israel. The council has already concluded, without any pretense an investigation, that Israel is guilty of “grave violations of human rights due to its military attacks.” Another article by Edwin Bennatan, “Richard Goldstone’s Phony Inquiry on Gaza” criticizes the recent legal onslaught as well for bias.
The problem with the reports is that Israel never co-operates in any investigation. They prefer their own sham investigations. The world is watching and they know what they’ve done.
“Anyone who reads the entire report with an unbiased eye” Would know instantly its completely biased. One member of this so called “Commission” Christine Chinkin signed a letter in the Times last March which stated:
‘Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defense – it’s a war crime. The rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas deplorable as they are, do not, in terms of scale and effect amount to an armed attack entitling Israel to rely on self-defense…Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defense’.
” IDF as villains, evil, cruel and murderers because that’s what they are.”
Lets take a closer look at this statement … We all agree the IDF has massive fire power. If they wanted to obliterate the Arabs in a few days, it could easily be done – BUT IT ISN’T. The Jordanians according to the Palestinians murdered 10,000 Palestinians in 11 days during the infamous Black September. The IDF total casualty in population density that has few rivals in a months fighting was 1400. The stats along prove the IDF far from being “murderers” show more restraint then any other Army. Perhaps that’s their biggest mistake – not ending this as ANY ARAB army would have done 60 years ago when they had the chance.
To make wild baseless statements that the IDF are this and that only indicate where the writer of such drivel is coming from …
And finally to Hari Singh … no they aren’t called “terrorists” because they are “weaker” but because they target women and children and old people specifically. They also target athletes, cripples in wheelchairs, kids at discos and anyone who gets in their way. The sooner they are eliminated from the earth, the sooner the planet will be better off