The Justice speaks with Dore Gold and Richard Goldstone
by Harry Shipps, Miranda Neubauer and Nashrah Rahman
News | 11/10/09
Posted online at 4:19 AM EST on 11/10/09
Q: What effect does the report have on the process of working toward an eventual resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict?
Dore Gold: I believe that, because the report did not single out Hamas for its involvement in war crimes but instead used the innocuous expression 'armed groups,' Hamas feels exonerated by the U.N. Gaza report, and that leads us to a situation where the resolution of differences between Israel and the Palestinians will be much more difficult.
Q: Of all of the allegations that Justice Richard Goldstone made, what would you point to as the most egregious distortion, in your opinion?
DG: There are 11 horrifying instances in the report where Israel is alleged to have deliberately killed civilians. Now, the sources of information for those allegations are testimonies by Palestinians, … but the report itself says that Palestinians feared to speak about ... the activities of the armed groups, Hamas and their military operations in the Gaza Strip. If Palestinian witnesses repeatedly stated that, in these 11 areas, there was no military activity going on, therefore if civilians were killed, it was Israel who deliberately killed them, that testimony can't be relied upon in any real way if, indeed, the Palestinians who spoke refused to speak about Hamas military operations.
Q: How do you feel the U.N. and the international community can build on the fact that it contains the first U.N. criticism of Hamas?
Richard Goldstone: That acceptance of our criticism of Hamas and branding what they do as a war crime, possibly a crime against humanity, I would hope would act as a deterrent. ... But I would hope that Hamas leaders and certainly the leaders of the Qassam brigades must now realize that the United Nations Human Rights Council has said that what they do amounts to a serious war crime.
Q: What do you hope the report will accomplish, given the controversy and the fact that people don't have time to read 500-plus pages?
RG: I think it's part of history. I think it recorded what happened. I think not only the Israeli military but the military of many countries that are fighting what is called an asymmetric war are going to look at the report, see what Israel did right, what it did wrong. I think it's important for the future.
Dore Gold: I believe that, because the report did not single out Hamas for its involvement in war crimes but instead used the innocuous expression 'armed groups,' Hamas feels exonerated by the U.N. Gaza report, and that leads us to a situation where the resolution of differences between Israel and the Palestinians will be much more difficult.
Q: Of all of the allegations that Justice Richard Goldstone made, what would you point to as the most egregious distortion, in your opinion?
DG: There are 11 horrifying instances in the report where Israel is alleged to have deliberately killed civilians. Now, the sources of information for those allegations are testimonies by Palestinians, … but the report itself says that Palestinians feared to speak about ... the activities of the armed groups, Hamas and their military operations in the Gaza Strip. If Palestinian witnesses repeatedly stated that, in these 11 areas, there was no military activity going on, therefore if civilians were killed, it was Israel who deliberately killed them, that testimony can't be relied upon in any real way if, indeed, the Palestinians who spoke refused to speak about Hamas military operations.
Q: How do you feel the U.N. and the international community can build on the fact that it contains the first U.N. criticism of Hamas?
Richard Goldstone: That acceptance of our criticism of Hamas and branding what they do as a war crime, possibly a crime against humanity, I would hope would act as a deterrent. ... But I would hope that Hamas leaders and certainly the leaders of the Qassam brigades must now realize that the United Nations Human Rights Council has said that what they do amounts to a serious war crime.
Q: What do you hope the report will accomplish, given the controversy and the fact that people don't have time to read 500-plus pages?
RG: I think it's part of history. I think it recorded what happened. I think not only the Israeli military but the military of many countries that are fighting what is called an asymmetric war are going to look at the report, see what Israel did right, what it did wrong. I think it's important for the future.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Larry B
posted 11/10/09 @ 4:07 PM EST
For a much better and fuller critique of the Goldstone report, see:
"The Goldstone Illusion" at
http://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-goldstone-illusion
My own comments:
Goldstone has made peace more difficult by encouraging Palestinian intransigence - their continued denial that the Jewish people have any historical connection to or any rights at all to any parts of the land of Israel. (Continued…)
Ali
posted 11/11/09 @ 6:05 PM EST
Larry B,
Here is a short and excellent presentation on this topic.
http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/special/12th/hrc091016am1-eng. (Continued…)
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