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)