News
US: Goldstone Report unfair to Israel
AFP
Published: 18.09.09, 23:43
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
29 Talkbacks for this article
1. The Goldstone Report
Sarah B ,   New York City, USA   (09.19.09)
The Goldstone Report fails to discuss the eight years of daily missile barrages into civilian population centers in Israel. That is a war crime. The Goldstone Report fails to discuss the repeated attempts by Hamas to infiltrate the border for the purposes of sending suicide bombers whose targets were exclusively civilian. That is a war crime. The Goldstone Report fails to ascribe blame upon Hamas for stockpiling weapons in schools, hospitals and civilian centers, thereby making them legitimate military targets, which jeopardized civilian lives in Gaza. That, too, is a war crime. Put simply, the Goldstone Report is a travesty, not worth the paper it is written on, full of lies and hearsay. Good thing the countries that matter aren't paying any attention to it.
2. US can't judge
Observer ,   Jerusalem Palestine   (09.19.09)
the US doesn't hold the world public oppinion to give those kind of advices .. people are free to form their own . what is really crtedible here was the fact that the Judge was a jew himself . and the most damaging was his daughter comment the following day ..it could have been worse for Israel if it wasn't for her Dad (she said ) . you don't care about the world's opinion anyway ,why all the fuss here or we have a international tribunal in the hague now . if a judge knows either parties ,that judge should step down ..even in the law of the Jungle .. the US can't give an opinion here ,a credible one of course .
3. The problem of using heavy weapons in densly populated areas
Bloodyscot ,   Dallas, USA   (09.19.09)
When Israel when in to Gaza its top priority was to keep it soldiers safe. UN rules and laws main priority is keep non-combatants at safe as posible. If someone got to close to the soldiers they were shot because they could have had a bomb or weapon and a "white flag" could have been away to get close to soldiers and kill them. If someone fired from an apartment building, the building was destroyed because risk was to high if troops were sent in. With modern high tech weapons it is safer for soldiers to just press a button and blewup a house or a town. The is a problem for any modern army and there are no simple answers.
4. US reesponse predictable and pathetic
Kim ,   NYC   (09.19.09)
Maybe it was overwhelmingly focused on Israel because they did 95% of the killing. The US govt and their greedy and corrupt politicians no longer have the moral authority to preach what's right and what's wrong.
5. It Means....US deplores Israeli actions
Peter Morris ,   New Zealand   (09.19.09)
Look carefully at the fine print. The US quite clearly deplores the crimes israel committed. The "balance" argument is the argument used when there is no argument.
6. Fisking the Goldstone Report
Zvi   (09.19.09)
See http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/ for an outstanding "fisk" of Goldstone's compilation of unverified Hamas propaganda.
7. Lets not forget
Truthseeker ,   USA   (09.19.09)
It should not be forgotten that Israel occupied Gaza for many years brutalizing the residents. When Israel pulled out it left the world's largest outdoor prison with Israel controlling every border (Egypt does Israel's bidding on one border) , the airspace and the sea. Meanwhile the occupation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank continued as did settlement building. Yes, Gaza did send crude missiles into Israel but over the years Israel sent advanced missiles into Gaza. In this latest episode it was Israel that deliberately broke the truce in November and when the Palestinians predictably responded to the deaths of their citizens Israel responded with a massive assault on Gaza aimed at destroying the infrastructure, a feat which it has accomplished. This was not a war. This was a massacre. There was little or no contact between Israeli fighters and Palestinian fighters. The majority of the dead IDF, which were few in number, came as a result of friendly fire and not as a result of Palestinian fire. The Goldstone report has held Israel to account as have brave IDF members and Israel's human rights organizations. I have no doubt that those who praise what Israel did in Gaza and who think that Israel did not commit war crimes would change their tune if Palestinians wreaked the same destruction and death on Israel.
8. To: No. 4
Sarah B ,   New York City, USA   (09.19.09)
Why are you faulting Israel for having an effective military force? This wasn't a war game Hamas was playing. They were targeting real people (Jews) who were noncombatants and they did so on a daily basis for eight years. What you fail to realize, Kim, is that there are no countries that I know of that would tolerate constant missile attacks for eight seconds, let alone eight years. In the course of the Allied bombing of Germany, at least two million noncombatants were killed. A single bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 200,000 people. A single bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed 140,000 people. Israel killed 1,300, the overwhelming majority of whom were terrorists. Keep things in proportion please. Try and remember that Hamas spent eight years sowing the wind. Eventually, they had to reap the whirlwind. Your statements and your position are intellectually unsound. Please try and do better next time. You might wish to brush up on von Clausewitz before pronouncing on wars -- your ignorance is appalling.
9. Kim huh.....more likely Karem
(09.19.09)
10. Kelly urged the Israeli government to investigate the IDF
observer   (09.19.09)
The IDF has already investigated the action of the soldiers in exposing Gaza war. But, the Israeli Government has not probed the action of the IDF himself in Gaza.
11. The New War.
Ron B. ,   Lod   (09.19.09)
The denial and inversion of law and history has singled out Israel for vilification applied to no other country. Scapegoated for crimes of which it is in fact the victim, Israel has become the Jew of the Western world. This is a victory for the Arabs in the new type of war in which they are engaged. Asymmetric warfare, whose principal battlefield is the mind, uses ostensibly powerless people (the Palestinians) who are in fact backed by powerful state actors (Iran). Such an inversion of strong and weak and the systematic use of deception are vital to the principal strategic goal of asymmetric warfare: to confuse and demoralise its victims and suborn world opinion to its cause as described at : http://xrl.us/bi3q3
12. Sarah
(09.19.09)
Pallestinians have every right to resist the occupier-no war crime. The rockets mainly fell into empty paddocks-not civilian centres-stop exagerating! The Goldstone Report scares you jews, because it tells the truth, and you can't handle the truth. Just worry about what goes on in your beloved Brooklyn!
13. #10, didn't have to...
Danny   (09.19.09)
The soldiers said they were not witness and were repeating hearday and gossip. I know in your world that is "fact" but never the less....
14. Unfair to Israel?
John Q. ,   LA, USA   (09.19.09)
That IS the funniest thing I've heard so far. I needed that. Thank you US.
15. John Q #14
Mickey ,   Sydney Ausrtralia   (09.19.09)
Sing to "Bye Bye Birdie" tune BYE BYE GOLDBERG, YOUR WORDS ARE GOING TO TRASH.
16. Israeli Army
Dr Z ,   L.A. Ca USA   (09.19.09)
Most of these soldiers are 18 and 19 year old kids, who are as frightened as the terrorists they are fighting. When you are doing battle with thugs who hide behind civilians (and in civilian clothes)you don't know where the next bullet is coming from. These kids are under scrutiny like no other army ever had to be..
17. Sarah #12
Suzy ,   Adelaide Australia   (09.19.09)
I wonder what the US would do if 8,000 rockets fell into empty paddocks in the US even in the Nevada Desert. I wonder how forgiving you would be?
18. Telling the truth
Jackie ,   Florida   (09.19.09)
According to Sderot's mayor, Goldstein fell asleep while the information about the rockets falling on Sderot was presented. Goldstein didn't want to know about the attacks on Jewish civilians. The report was written before any testimony had been presented and it was based on the lies told by the Arabs. Anyone recall the "massacre" in Jenin?
19. Member nations endorsing the report?
R   (09.19.09)
The non-biased member nations who endorse the report - paragons of virtue in whose countries no human rights are violated - include Saudia Arabia, Cuba, and Pakistan. The following countries and others refused to endorse the report: Korea, Canada, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and many others.
20. Israel made only one mistake during the
Vardina   (09.19.09)
operation: It failed to destroy Gaza and its surroundings, which it could but would not due to Barak's lack of courage. This man has not been able so far to accomplish a full task.
21. observer?
(09.19.09)
Jerusalem Palestine? There never was a state by this name and there is none now. So where are you from, nitwiy?
22. Suzy, #17
(09.19.09)
Fair dinkum, love, the US does not have Canada or Mexico held under siege, so don't make silly comparisons. The rockets are 99% harmless anyway-it is just a form of protest by a desperate people who are being starved, dehydrated, abused, used, and imprisoned. You would too, you bonkas sheila!
23. #21
(09.19.09)
You are trying to tell us that you are intelligent, so could you tell us what a "nitwiy" is? Thanks.
24. To: No. 12
Sarah B ,   New York City, USA   (09.19.09)
1. Israel is no longer present in Gaza. Hamas missiles and suicide bombers targeted Jews in the State of Israel. 2. The fact that Hamas cannot hit the broad side of a barn in no way reduces the intent of the missiles that they fired, which was, quite simply, to kill Jews. The missiles were launched; that is intent. The fact that no one was killed does not diminish the intent. And plenty of people were traumatized for a very long time. 3. No, it is the Palestinians who cannot handle truth. You have refused to deal with truth for sixty-one years --- preferring your own version of events that have nothing to do with actual fact. 4. I live in Manhattan. I think I may have visited Brooklyn twice, though. Sorry.
25. To: Suzy at No. 17
Sarah B ,   New York City, USA   (09.19.09)
I did not write the post at no. 12, Suzy. Some coward who prefers to go nameless posted it,. and just used my name in the title because he or she objects to my posts which, by the way, run pretty much parallel to yours ....
26. To: No. 22
Sarah B ,   New York City, USA   (09.19.09)
How many aborigines died when foreign British colonizers settled Australia? Tens of millions. They were starved, dehydrated,. abused, used, imprisoned and murdered. Seems to me you need to clean up your own house before you worry about what Israel does. And when exactly will Australia restore the land it stole from the aborigines to the rightful owners? When? You are an idiot, by the way.
27. #2 - faulty logic.
Tahl ,   Ashdod, Israel   (09.19.09)
"what is really credible here was the fact that the Judge was a jew [sic] himself" - Well, this is an age-old ruse to mask unbalanced criticism of Israel as legitimate and "credible" - using a Jew to deliver it. As if there are no self-loathing Jews out there who would love to bash Israel the moment they'll get the chance. The UN and other Israel-hating bodies make good use of these self-loathing Jews to strengthen their case. Is Ahmadinejad's call to annihilate Israel more credible, because he kissed this lunatic Rabbi Friedman of Neturei Karta? "you don't care about the world's opinion anyway" - When the world's opinion would start being more balanced and less pro-Palestinian as it is most of the time (as is this Goldstone report) - we will start caring about it.
28. I hope Jews are boycotting goldstone
jason white ,   afula,israel   (09.19.09)
this holiday and every one in the future. Let him become the pariah he should be.
29. To: No. 28
Sarah B ,   New York City, USA   (09.20.09)
I have asked the rabbi of my shul to institute herem proceedings. Let us pray.
Back to article