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The Goldstone Report - The Terrorists' Magna Carta

[Jerusalem Post] Daniel Friedmann - To see how white is turned into black, how truth is twisted, justice perverted and falseness prevails, take a good look at the Human Rights Council and its Goldstone report. Israel, the victim of incessant rocket attacks and endless acts of terror, has been singled out for special treatment. The Human Rights Council directed its mission "to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying power, Israel, against the Palestinian people...particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression." Israel is thus declared culpable even before the investigation begins. The member states of the European Union, Switzerland, Canada, Korea and Japan refused to support this one-sided resolution. Goldstone said of the mission he led, "it is not a judicial inquiry. It's a fact-finding mission." But this claim is refuted by the report, which is highly judicial, replete with purported legal analysis of international law, detailed legal findings and reaching judicial determinations on "war crimes." The mission did not even bother to hide its prejudice against Israel. The destruction of a flour mill was "wanton" and was done "for the purposes of denying sustenance to the civilian population" which "may constitute a war crime" (p. 50). Such a conclusion, of course, is contrary to the clear evidence that during the operation, as well as before and after, Israel allowed ample supply of food to be brought into Gaza. The report seems to be in line with the propaganda of Hamas, which created the false impression of total destruction in the area. British journalist Tim Butcher wrote in the Telegraph on Jan. 20, 2009: "I knew Gaza well before the attacks....One thing was clear. Gaza City 2009 is not Stalingrad 1944. There had been no carpet bombing of large areas, no firebombing of complete suburbs. Targets had been selected and then hit, often several times, but almost always with precision munitions...for the most part, I was struck by how cosmetically unchanged Gaza appeared to be." The writer is a professor of law (emeritus) and a former justice minister of Israel.
2009-11-02 06:00:00
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