Goldstone Debunked

Pritam S. Rana
Los Angeles, April 28, 2011

In a superb evening organized by Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivor, Los Angeles witnessed a fine evening amid an eye-opening academic discourse on the debunking of Goldstone Report. Various experts questioned the legitimacy of the report, particularly its claim that Israel commited war crimes and alleged crimes against humanity. Professor Avi Bell, noted Israeli scholar from Bar Ilan University asked audience not to be duped by legal maneuverings. “Politics (is the driving force)” in the Goldstone Investigations and not the principle of legality.

JJ Surbeck, a Swiss trained legal analyst compared the oft international efforts to link Israel’s Arab policy to South Africa’s apartheid. To debunk this association, Surbeck alluded China, Morocco and Turkey as other examples where the world has chosen to ignore while penalizing Israel. China took over Tibet in 1950 while Morocco took over Spanish Sahara in the 1970s. Turkey formed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in Northern Cyprus ignoring worldwide opposition. The three states got away with imposing their unilateralism on questionable grounds amid the Cold War where political loyalty surpassed international legal regimes.

The nature of Goldstone investigation and its pursuit by human rights organizations show a hidden agenda to chastise Israel. The entire accusation based on the validity of customary laws on international humanitarian law is a matter not compelling for Israel to uphold while the other side loses no effort to diplomatically isolate Israel while pursuing war against Israeli population centers.

Academic Rick Richman spoke of the crisis facing US foreign policy makers if the September declaration of Palestinian statehood goes ahead.

Goldstone Report, named after the presiding judge from South Africa, followed an investigation in 2009 following the Gaza War. It accuses both Israel and Hamas of intense violation of international conventions on the laws of war to the point of stating whether crimes against humanity actually occurred. The report rounds up 40 years of history in a twenty page document. Israel refused to cooperate citing negative bias against its longstanding position while Hamas openly cooperated on the report. The majority of UN members from Third World led by China chose to support the document’s findings.

(Goldstone Report sourced from www.wikipedia.org)

The day we landed
by Pritam S. Rana

It was six in the morning
as we climbed down the nets
to the old wooden boats rolling fiercely
huddled together in groups of eights.

Our hopes were high for all of us expected
the Turks would simply turn and run
at the sight of our mighty fleet which had blasted
beaches, forts, man and gun.

We went forward to the beaches and the rocks
of Achi Baba and Kilid Bahr defiant and proud
crushing the silence of many peaceful nights.
Black and white smoke obscured beaches, explosions
were loud.

Thunderclaps, machine guns, and whizzing bullets,
the Turks had prepared a nasty welcome.
Men fell screaming as bullets hit chests and limbs
even before they had stepped on the beaches.

Chanting ‘Hail Mary!’ the men went ahead,
jumping out and running forward,
carrying rifle and rucksack, holding on to the helmet,
desperate for cover.

Men may have lost hope as they lay prone on the round
pinned down by enemy fire, shellshocked.
The wounded and the dead littered the ground.

The enemy was well dug-in
while our fellows were scattered about,
Oh, how much we wished for the days in Dublin,
the officers barked to keep our hearts stout.

We prayed for the day to die soon
for the darkness would shield us for the night.
In the cool light of the waxing moon
we began to dig for the next day’s fight.

Sourced from www.spinybabbler.com