The Justice

Richard Goldstone will speak at the University next month about his report on the Gaza conflict.

Justice Richard Goldstone, author of the United Nations report that found evidence of war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during last winter's Gaza conflict, will speak at Brandeis on Nov. 5, the Office of Communications announced in a University press release last Wednesday.

Goldstone, who is also the chair of the advisory board of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life at Brandeis, will engage in discussion with Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and current President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. The event will be co-sponsored by the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

This will be first time that Goldstone discusses the Gaza report publicly with a senior Israeli figure, according to the press release. There will a question-and-answer session after the two speeches, Ethics Center Director Dan Terris said.

The President of the United Nations Human Rights Council established the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict in April "to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza," according to the report.

The Israeli government declined to cooperate with the mission because it considered the mandate biased against Israel.

The report, released Sept. 15, details evidence of war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas. The U.N. Human Rights Council endorsed the report on Oct. 16. The report recommends that the U.N. Security Council refer the issue to the International Criminal Court in the Hague if either side fails to establish domestic investigations of the allegations.

The event will take place at 5 p.m in the Levin Ballroom, Global Communications and Operations Director Charles Radin said.

Radin added that he anticipated that off-campus visitors would be able to attend but that the University is also exploring the use of live-streaming. Organizers are also leaning toward limiting the questions to Brandeis students, he said.

"There are groups at both extremes off campus, and they sometimes put aside civility," Radin said. "Something that I'm really confident of … is that if this is limited to Brandeis students, the questions will be pointed. They'll be sharp and they'll be civil."

Continued...

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