Israel Matzav

Goldstone's kapos

Operation Cast Lead ended in mid-January 2009, right before President Obama's inauguration (Israel was ordered not to spoil the party). The Goldstone Commission was appointed on April 3, 2009. On September 15, 2009, the Commission issued a 600-page report that included 'findings of fact and conclusions of law' and accused Israel of systematically destroying Gaza's civilian infrastructure in an attempt to starve and torture its people (Goldstone himself has retracted that accusation; the other commission members stand by it). How did they produce such a huge report so quickly? A lot of it was cutting and pasting - but how did they know what to cut and paste? Noah Pollak explains.

The report was largely compiled from material provided by what is often referred to as Israel’s “human rights community.” This vague euphemism refers to a coterie of groups and individuals that has evolved over the past decade into a highly politicized movement of dozens of nongovernmental organizations that operate in Israel and subject its government, military, laws, and people to relentless scrutiny and accusation. And, as first pointed out by NGO Monitor, the Goldstone Report relied most heavily on the largest and most prominent among them: the group known as B’Tselem. More footnotes in the report, 56 in all, cite B’Tselem as a source than any other. Indeed, as Jessica Montell, B’Tselem’s executive director, has said, B’Tselem “provided extensive assistance to the UN fact-finding mission headed by Justice Goldstone—escorting them to meet victims in Gaza, providing all of our documentation and correspondence, and meeting the mission in Jordan.”

B'Tselem is supported by European (mostly) and American funds. Those funds have an agenda, and it's not a pro-Israel agenda.

Read the whole thing (payment required).

Labels: B'Tselem, Goldstone Commission, Goldstone Report, New Israel Fund, Understanding the Goldstone Report

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:17 AM