Tikkun Interview with Richard Goldstone

If any of you have been following the latest UN report on the Gaza war and the outrageous crimes against humanity that Israel committed in Palestine, then I want to hear your thoughts!

For me, the report is not really what is surprising or interesting - the Goldstone element is what really fascinates me. Jewish South African former Supreme Court Judge Richard Goldstone is a self-professed Zionist and a political moderate who has been recently vilified by the Jewish mainstream media and political establishment (both in Israel and in the US) for overseeing and supporting the findings of the report. Goldstone actually refused to oversee the investigation unless Palestinian actions were also scrutinized but he stands by the results of the investigation and good for him! What I find so fascinating is how he is being marginalized because he is questioning the status quo and actually daring to dash the Israel-as-utopia myth (see Uri Avnery's opinions, published by Tikkun here).

If this becomes a trend I see the pro-Israel argument/lobby seriously entrenching itself further and alienating its current powerful base. I can't help but hope that it gets bad so it can get better... Maybe if many current Israel supporters see how extreme Israel's actions are and the extremism of many supporters of Israel can be they more mainstream and moderate folk will mobilize to insist on human rights and some form of justice in the region... Pipe dreams? Let me keep dreaming. Otherwise this entire debacle is just too disgusting and horrifying for words.

Tikkun did a pretty good interview with Goldstone that you can find here.

For the Democracy Now report on the UN Investigation click here.

Israeli Soldiers Come Clean

An article efrom Commondreams has more information, but this letter from Jewish Voices for Peace sums it up too:

The Israeli group Breaking the Silence has just released a collection of testimonies (1) by Israeli soldiers that took part in the Gaza attack last December and January.
This is not the first report documenting the horrors inflicted on the civilian population in Gaza. Less than two weeks ago, for example, Amnesty International produced a report documenting Israel's use of battlefield weapons against the civilian population trapped in Gaza. (2)
Today Israeli soldiers corroborate charges that the military repeatedly violated international law.
You know what? You feel like a child playing around with a magnifying glass, burning up ants. Really. A 20-year-old kid should not be doing such things to people.

The soldiers testify about their use of human shields (3), their use of phosphorus over civilian populations, and about the sheer magnitude of the destruction.
Why fire phosphorus? Because it's fun. Cool.

It looked awful, like in those World War II films where nothing remained. A totally destroyed city.

The soldiers also relate efforts of the military rabbinate unit to make the attack a holy war between "the sons of darkness" and "the sons of light."

[They told us] No pity, God protects you, everything you do is sanctified.

The list goes on.

Now we have heard from both Gazans and Israeli soldiers, all telling a similar story.
Generous US aid - American tax dollars - made this possible. American-made weapons were used to attack Gazan civilians, productive factories, schools and administrative buildings.
The British government has canceled a number of weapons contracts with Israel.
Isn't it time for members of the U.S. Congress to pay attention? Demand an investigation now into the use of US tax monies to fund war crimes in Gaza.

Sydney Levy
Jewish Voice for Peace

(1) Breaking the Silence Testimonies
http://www.shovrimshtika.org/news_item_e.asp?id=30
(2) Amnesty International Gaza report
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/impunity-war-crimes-gaza-southern-israel-recipe-further-civilian-suffering-20090702
(3) Ha'aretz: Israeli soldier: "We used Gazans as human shields."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100300.html
Original article removed from Ha'aretz, but available in full here: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/14/18607903.php )
(4) BBC Breaking the Silence on Gaza Abuses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8151336.stm