Yesterday I brought to this community's attention a letter sent by David Buskila, mayor of Sderot, to Richard Goldstone regarding Goldstone's team's controversial probe of Israel's Operation Cast Lead.
Today, I present to you Goldstone's response to that letter.
Dear Mayor Buskila,
I acknowledge with thanks your letter of 1 October 2009. If you have read our report you will see that:
- We set out the details and an analysis of the terror that the firing of rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip caused to the people of Southern Israel including Sderot and especially to the children.
- We stated that the firing of rockets and mortars at civilian targets in Southern Israel constituted serious war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.
- The members of the Mission wished to visit Southern Israel and especially Sderot but permission for such a visit was not agreed to by the Government of Israel.
I fully share you hope that peace will come your region and when I next visit Israel I would like to accept your invitation to visit Sderot.
With my best wishes for the New Year,
Richard Goldstone
Goldstone, at least to me, seems like an acceptable arbiter with a solid track record, and it was a mistake by those acting with Israeli interests in mind to attack him from the get-go, because Goldstone wasn't the issue. The entire issue should have been the United Nations Human Rights Council, which in its history has generally worked contrary to its stated mission.
When Jews complain about the hypocrisy and the often impossible to reconcile with double-standard Israel has been subjected to by the UNHRC, it's not because we are trying to scuttle any and all criticism of Israel, it's because from the get-go, the only point of the UNHRC has been as a tool to discredit the Jewish state. As Human Rights Watch said upon the UNHRC's founding:
"The council’s singling out the Occupied Palestinian Territories for special attention is a cause for concern," said Hicks. "The human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories deserves attention, but the new council must bring the same vigor to its consideration of other pressing situations."
Since then, nothing has changed. Israel remains the only country singled out for condemnation. Not even Sudan, where hundreds of thousands have been slaughtered.
Goldstone should have never gotten involved. But he did. He's still a respectable enough figure, though, and condemning him does nothing. His employers, however, deserve every bit of condemnation we can muster.
Israel was rocketed for year. That fact is indisputable. And where was the Human Rights Council dispatching an expert to probe years of militant terrorism? Nowhere to be seen, obviously, because it didn't fit the UNHRC's narrative. But as soon as Israel responds, here comes the UNHRC, eagerly willing to investigate Israeli war crimes.
I thank Goldstone for also documenting war crimes committed by Israel's enemies in Gaza, because honestly, his employers really didn't want him to do that. He's not the man we should have a problem with.