The 11th Hour and The 18 Deaths

There are two stories in the news that have really bothered me over the last few weeks and the gist of what happened is not dissimilar in either case.

Last Tuesday, an Afghan policeman, working with a group of British Officers opened fire on them as took a break from duties. He killed five boys in cold blood. Whilst on Thursday, a US army doctor went on the rampage, murdering 13 people and injuring 29.

These are troubling cases for a number of reasons. Firstly, obviously, the loss of life - but I believe, all the more worrying because the perpetrators were not the "enemy" as such, but trusted comrades - the inner circle, as some would put it - or the fifth column as others may well believe it should be named.

So how do the respective armies deal with the fallout of such a situation?

The immediate reaction is obviously one of shock and dismay and no doubt anger, understandable as it is, from within the army and of course from the families of the victims.

There will be some who will blame Governments for stationing the soldiers in Afghanistan or indeed for the very presence of both armies in that region. They will call for the US and British to withdraw and let the natives fend for themselves against the Taliban.

Others will want a crackdown on Muslims within the army or indeed, contacts between the Afghan and British/US forces.

I am in no doubt that there are many more scenarios being discussed at this very moment. By pandering to the extremists, both armies might risk throwing out the proverbial baby with the its rather bloodied bathwater, something that I am sure no-one (aside from the supporters of the massacres) wants.

My heart however goes out to every member of the Armed Forces in both the US and British armies. I dread to think what must be keeping them awake right about now. It's one thing having to cope with dodging enemy fire, however it is something completely different to be wondering if the person whom you thought you trusted, had a plan to eliminate you at any point when your back was turned or indeed if you sat down to take a drink of water.

Today, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, I will be thinking about all the soldiers who were killed defending my right to be here writing this post. I will remember the sacrifice that many of them made to protect their comrades - and lost their lives in doing so. It grieves me all the more to also think of the young people who lost their lives in the last week, not so much as through "friendly" fire - but as a result of the machinations of some very evil individuals.

May G-d rest their souls.
Each and every one.

Disfigured Terror Victim Confronts Goldstone in U.N. Debate

This is a brilliant and I repeat, brilliant, example of the bias exhibited in the Goldstone Report and even more so, the cynical stance continually taken by the UN against the State of Israel. Goldstone and his cronies as well as the UNHCR should themselves be tried for Crimes against the Jewish people.

Israel: Leader of Business Innovation - CNBC.com

Israel: Leader of Business Innovation - CNBC.com

Col. Richard Kemp on the U.N. Goldstone Report

The Friday Afternoon Feeling

I'm at the butt-end of a long two weeks.

Yom Tov was pleasant. It really was. The weather....well, at least the rest of the festival was worth remembering.

The way it fell this year was not easy. Yes, it was nice to have Shabbat and Yom Tov at the same time, but it also meant that for those of us who value Sundays, the fortnight have not exactly been kind.

For that reason, I can say that I am really looking forward to return of "Saturday nights" and their sweet descendants...Sunday! This week, I won't get dolled up in my smart clothes and make my way to Shul. Oh no, not me. I look forward to shlumping around in my underwear until at least midday, at which point, I'll probably throw on something that should have been thrown...away - years ago.

Ah the gorgeous smell of Sunday already greets my frustrated and burned out nostrils.

Shabbat is welcome. It is more than welcome, it is mandatory and I can't wait to enjoy it once again. That other day of rest though less spiritual is no less anticipated.

Hooray - the weekends are finally back in my life.

My Bat Mitzvah Daughter

I had no idea that by the end of Simchat Torah, I would be staring into the long day on which I would be thrust into fatherhood for the very first time.

Twelve years ago, we had one of those long Yom Tov do's. Thursday and Friday followed by the inevitable shabbat. Just like her old man, Hadassah was born on the Lord's day of rest, which landed on 24th Tishri.

So here I am, 12 years on with a daughter who has made the leap from little girl to legal adult (in the Jewish sense of the word) and I feel nothing but absolute joy and not a little wonder at how blessed we are to be parents to such a wonderful human being.

Her "official" welcome into the Bat Mitzvah circle is not scheduled for another few months but if truth be told, to me, tonight, she's already crossed the velvet line, between little girl and not-so little one.

Hadassah, be blessed. Be healthy and most importantly - don't ever be anyone except your wonderful self.

So much love

Daddy.

How Goldstone Erred

Haaretz, Sept. 27, 2009
By Benjamin Pogrund

At least three times in his life, Richard Goldstone has gone against prevailing wisdom in taking on challenging jobs. Two were in apartheid South Africa - and he was brilliantly successful in both. The third, his Gaza inquiry, has brought down the coals of hell upon his head.

During the first three decades of apartheid, many judges were appointed because of their loyalty to the Afrikaner government. One result was a decline in the quality and status of South African courts. In response, the government sought to appoint some liberal lawyers of quality. Most, however, were reluctant to join the bench because it meant applying apartheid laws.

Some accepted: Goldstone, who made his name as a barrister in nonpolitical commercial cases, became a Supreme Court judge in 1980. The next year, far from merely applying the law, he handed down a judgment that struck at the heart of a basic apartheid law - the Group Areas Act, which had split the entire country into different areas where people of different races were respectively compelled to live and work, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people of color.

Goldstone ruled in favor of an Asian woman appealing against eviction from her home, and said she first had to be provided with alternative accommodation. His startling judgment ended such evictions.

His second challenging job came in 1991. Apartheid was winding down and the country was beset by violence, in which thousands were killed. A mysterious "Third Force" of government agents was rumored to be behind the killings. President F.W. de Klerk asked Goldstone to head a commission to investigate the terrible violence. Goldstone accepted - and ran it like no other commission before: Over three years, he issued 47 reports, revealing horrendous details about murder squads set up and funded by the government.

Gaza has been Goldstone's latest challenge. He again accepted a mandate from a poisoned source: the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. I have no doubt that he acted with the best of intentions, as he has his entire life, first in South Africa and then in the world, to ensure justice be done. But I also believe that this time, his decision is open to question.

First, Goldstone underestimated the Human Rights Council's malevolence toward Israel. Most members harbor deep hatred for Israel, and wish for no less than its destruction. Goldstone should have been warned off by the refusal of several people before him to accept the job, including former Irish president Mary Robinson.

Second, he accepted the council's mandate, even though it had declared in advance that Israel was guilty of war crimes in Gaza. It is not enough that the council's chairman later said the mandate could include Hamas: Apart from the fact that this statement does not bind the council, his findings on Hamas will mean little or nothing in practice because the organization is not a recognized government and is beyond international action. Israel is the council's target and Goldstone has delivered it. His report has more strength because he is a Jew and enjoys international status.

Third, rejecting objections, he allowed Prof. Christine Chinkin to remain a member of his four-person commission even though, back in January, she had already publicly found Israel guilty, referring to its "prima facie war crimes" in Gaza. Goldstone thus seriously, even fatally, undermined the commission's credibility, and in doing so raised questions about his own good sense.

Fourth, the nearly 600-page report includes many pages of descriptions and allegations of Israeli oppression at home and on the West Bank. That is valid if the intention is to provide a context for Israel's actions in Gaza. But then it must be done properly, with careful research and assessments for a fair presentation of the mix of history, religion, culture and politics that make up the complex situation, including both good and bad. The report does not show that knowledge and understanding; instead, time and again, it's Israel that is bad, bad, bad.

Fifth, the report follows the usual line pursued by members of the council and Israel's other enemies - treating Israel as though it were a unique source of evil instead of examining Gaza in the light of experience elsewhere, in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, where the military has taken on terrorists in a civilian setting.

Richard Goldstone is now under savage attack from many in the Jewish world. Right-wingers have gone berserk, with outpourings of hysterical condemnation. More measured criticism has come from Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the UN, who said there were "very serious concerns about many of the recommendations in the report," and U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, who criticized the report for its "cookie-cutter conclusions" about Israel's actions, while it limited its comments on "the deplorable actions of Hamas to generalized remarks."

But Kelly also urged Israel to further investigate IDF actions in Gaza. And that indeed is what Israel should do. I believed last December and still do that Israel was justified in going into Gaza. But I remain uncertain and uncomfortable about exactly what Israel did and why it did it. Was white phosphorous used over civilian areas? If so, why? What about the early killing of scores of policemen? What about reports that rescue parties were blocked from reaching the wounded, civilians carrying white flags were killed while fleeing and human shields were used? Why were journalists kept out?

The IDF says emphatically that it behaved correctly, but it is not enough for it to investigate itself. An independent investigation is needed - and the obvious person to head it is former Israeli Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, who would give it strength and status, at home and abroad. Israelis need it for their own moral peace of mind, or if wrong was done, to recognize and to address it. Israel needs to be certain that it can tell Goldstone and other critics that their accusations are skewed and unjustified.

Benjamin Pogrund, a former South African journalist, first reported on Richard Goldstone 48 years ago.
Source: Haaretz (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1116945.html).