Israel Matzav

Goldstone afraid to debate Dershowitz

Well, here's proof that Richard Goldstone thinks that Dore Gold won their debate at Brandeis earlier this month: Goldstone refuses to debate Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz on Goldstone's 'home turf' at Fordham University where Goldstone is a guest lecturer.

In a conversation with Ynet, Dershowitz claimed that Goldstone preferred to give interviews to public television over debating him. Dershowitz said that it isn't appropriate for Goldstone to filter whom he debates, saying that he chose to speak with Bill Moyers and People magazine, but refused to sit at the same table as him.

Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor who gained fame through a number of highly publicized court cases, including that of OJ Simpson, invited Goldstone to a debate on the home turf of the report's author in front of his students at Fordham University, where he is a visiting lecturer. Goldstone turned down the invite.

...

Dershowitz said that he tried to confront Goldstone, but that Goldstone clearly showed that he is uninterested in debating people who have access to information and have read his report meticulously and with a critical eye. Dershowitz, not hiding his dismay with Goldstone, said that the judge used very poor judgment, and noted that judges are not above the law or morality, and nor are they above criticism or debate.

Dershowitz demanded that Goldstone provide explanations of the sources that led him to his final conclusion in the report, which asserted that Israel's policy in Operation Cast Lead was to kill as many Palestinian civilians as possible.

Dershowitz said that this is an utter lie and that Goldstone must be ashamed for coming to such a conclusion, saying that while Goldstone now denies such allegations in interviews, this indeed is the bottom line of the report written plainly in black and white.

To all of you who thought that Goldstone won the debate or that it was a draw: Goldstone believes otherwise.

Heh.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:43 PM