South African judge, Richard Goldstone

Last September the head of the UN Fact Finding Mission, Justice Richard Goldstone presented a report of more than 500 pages to the Human Rights Council about the Gaza war in the winter of 2008-2009. Although the substance of the report was shocking and questionable, it was well received by the Human Right Council. This should not come as a surprise to most people considering its past track record and that a large segment of its members are Islamic regimes, most of which display open hostility to Israel.

Backers of the report claim that those who mock or seek to undermine the report are simply trying to cover for Israel war crimes and for the most part haven’t read the content in the report. At a debate held in congress concerning the passing of a bill to reject the contention of the report, some senators claimed that many opposing the report simply had not taken the time to read it.

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said he did take the time to read the report in its entirety within days of its release and rejected the report at its core. He argues that one not need read every detail of the report to know it’s a farce. Moreover, he doubts whether Justice Goldstone himself has been through the whole document which bears his signature.

The opposition to the report stems from some basic points and really doesn’t require one to be a Mideast analyst to work it out. The report is much harsher on Israel than it is on Hamas. Israel is a free society, especially to dissent. Israel has a transparent judicial system which can and does conduct investigations into misdemeanors during wartime. Israel was under attack for years prior to its offensive (or defensive, depends how you look at it). Hamas on the other hand, has been attacking Israel for years, has no free society, uses human shields to make Israel appear murderous in front of international audiences and does not conduct any investigations into possible war crimes. If it did conduct such investigations one would be forced to ask how the relentless firing of rockets slipped through their fingers.

Goldstone suggests in his report that the IDF adopted a policy of deliberate persecution of the Palestinian people to cause harm, destruction and death, ultimately to instill fear of the Israeli empire.

Any thinking person, liberal or conservative realizes alone how untrue this is. Israel, a nation which seeks justice fights a war against an outlawed terrorist organization which follows its charter of the annihilation of the State of Israel, and Israel comes out as the tyrant?

The Goldstone Report shouldn’t have been brought to the table to necessitate its rebuttal, it should have just been ignored on the outset for its perversion of justice and facts.