In his April 1, Washington Post opinion piece, Richard Goldstone said that if more information had been forthcoming from Israel when he chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the section concerning intentional killing of civilians by Israel, would have been different. That it was Israel’s refusal to co-operate with the UN fact- finding mission which adversely affected the outcome, is an important qualification that has been somehow lost in the justificatory headlines and commentary that have appeared in the Australian Jewish News.
But what of the rest of the first Goldstone report, or the additional report released on 18 March by the UNHRC, a report which continues to be critical of Israel and Hamas? Has that report been “qualified” or “disowned” by Goldstone? Not at all. It also needs to be observed that the UN again spoke with Gilad Shalit’s father. The UNHRC mission and the original Goldstone report called for his release.
In fact, here are Goldstone’s most recently reported remarks about the report as a whole: “I have no reason to believe any part of the report needs to be reconsidered at this time.”
Of 400 Israeli investigations–there have been 52 criminal investigations. So far, only three cases have been submitted to prosecution; two have resulted in convictions, while the trial of one case is still ongoing. This lack of movement is regrettable. In another case, theft of a credit card by a soldier in Gaza resulted in a far more serious penalty than using a nine-year-old as a human shield, and this has not been the only case of a light touch.
Moreover, we note that Hamas has not conducted any investigations into the launching of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and deserve the strongly critical remarks in the most recent UNHRC report.
[This letter was published to the Australian Jewish News in an edited form on 22 April 2011]
Category: Editorials
The AJDS deplores the murder of the Fogel family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar. This is a horrific crime and heartrending tragedy for the community in which it occurred.
We hope that the person or people responsible will be apprehended and brought to justice.
AJDS Executive, 15 March 2011.
A campaign to bar a Muslim prayer group from using an East St Kilda Community House for one hour a week is being driven by extremists with an anti-Muslim agenda. The public controversy was manufactured by a group calling themselves the Q Society. The Q Society identified a need for a planning amendment to the Community House that would affect all groups that use the space.
A campaign to bar a Muslim prayer group from using an East St Kilda Community House for one hour a week is being driven by extremists with an anti-Muslim agenda. The public controversy was manufactured by a group calling themselves the Q Society. The Q Society identified a need for a planning amendment to the Community House that would affect all groups that use the space.
The following message has been send to Kevin Rudd, parliamentarians, and journalists in the proposed delegation.
Hon Kevin Rudd
Australian Foreign Minister
Canberra
Dear Minister Rudd
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society believes that in its present form the visit to Israel by a parliamentary and press
delegation hosted by the Australian Israel Leadership Forum is of limited value.
Middle East News Service comments:
This News Service (as well as the Australian Jewish Democratic Society that has been sponsoring it) has always condemned those who use violence to achieve their aims in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are appalled at every death but particularly those of people who did not take part in the hostilities. The Israeli Human rights organisation B’Tselem has documented the death of 100 Palestinians between the end of the war in Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) and the end of July. These included 16 Palestinian minors and 32 people who did not take part in the hostilities. This news service didn’t issue statements on the occasion of any of those deaths and we do not see a reason to issue one now. All those who are responsible for the death, on both sides, stand condemned not only by us, but by all decent people around the world. We do not believe that those who employ terrorism should be rewarded by either us or anyone else changing their policies and actions.
Please read the linked strong comment from Mitchell Plitnick and his following addendum that really rounds it up.
Sol Salbe
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society considers the Occupation of the West Bank to be a significant obstacle to the achievement of a lasting peace, and the settlements to be one of its worst manifestations.
Its effects are numerous:
*Israel’s youth must risk their lives in policing a hostile aggrieved Palestinian population, and risk becoming brutalised by the experience;
* Jewish settlers and their Palestinian neighbours have an understandably impossible relationship which often results in openly violent and destructive behaviour;
*It breaches international law, the very system that actually made possible the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948;
*Development of Palestinian civil society and its economy, which are the prerequisites of prospects for peace, is stifled.
Many Israelis share this view. The AJDS has decided that it does not wish to give financial support to those who produce and export from the settlements, and wishes to discourage others from doing so. We are taking this stand because we hope that it will encourage people to think about the question of the Occupation, and, at a more fundamental level, because we don’t wish to be supportive of people who breach International law, with or without the approval of the Israeli Government…(more follows)
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society has become the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organisation to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified. The decision culminated a 16-month process of discussion and expression of a wide range of views in its Newsletter.
The resolution (full text below) rejected the Palestinian civil society version of Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS): “The AJDS is opposed to any Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign aimed at the breadth of Israeli economic, cultural or intellectual activity”. The AJDS only supports “selected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders.”
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society has become the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organisation to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified. The decision culminated a 16-month process of discussion and expression of a wide range of views in its Newsletter.
The resolution (full text below) rejected the Palestinian civil society version of Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS): “The AJDS is opposed to any Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign aimed at the breadth of Israeli economic, cultural or intellectual activity”. The AJDS only supports “selected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders.”
This letter was sent by AJDS to the mainstream print media on 7 July 2010.
In a world without recognition of human rights, or humanitarian concerns, or human dignity, or sense of justice, it would be logical, acceptable and valid to treat asylum seekers as badly as possible as a way of discouraging others.
Some in our community think that these sorts of attitudes should underpin the way our federal government deals with the issue of asylum seekers. Some in our parliament think that good public policy necessitates relegating humanitarian considerations to the fringe. After all, how can you discourage asylum seekers if you start by treating them as people in need?