XPost: alt.impeach.bush, soc.culture.israel, alt.war.terrorism   
   From: al92653@xyz.com   
      
   Disgrace in The Hague   
      
   By Gideon Levy   
      
   September 17, 2009 "Haaretz" -- There's a name on every bullet, and there's   
   someone responsible for every crime. The Teflon cloak Israel has wrapped   
   around itself since Operation Cast Lead has been ripped off, once and for   
   all, and now the difficult questions must be faced. It has become   
   superfluous to ask whether war crimes were committed in Gaza, because   
   authoritative and clear-cut answers have already been given. So the   
   follow-up question has to be addressed: Who's to blame? If war crimes were   
   committed in Gaza, it follows that there are war criminals at large among   
   us. They must be held accountable and punished. This is the harsh conclusion   
   to be drawn from the detailed United Nations report.   
      
   For almost a year, Israel has been trying to argue that the blood spilled in   
   Gaza was merely water. One report followed the other, with horrifyingly   
   identical results: siege, white phosphorous, harm of innocent civilians,   
   infrastructure destroyed - war crimes in each and every report. Now, after   
   the publication of the most important and damning report of all, compiled by   
   the commission led by Judge Richard Goldstone, Israel's attempts to   
   discredit them look ludicrous, and the empty bluster of its spokespersons   
   sound pathetic.   
      
   So far they have focused on the messengers, not their messages: the   
   researcher for Human Rights Watch collects Nazi memorabilia, Breaking the   
   Silence is a business and Amnesty International is anti-Semitic. All cheap   
   propaganda. This time, though, the messenger is propaganda-proof. No one can   
   seriously claim that Goldstone, an active and ardent Zionist, with deep   
   links to Israel, is an anti-Semite. It would be ridiculous.   
      
   Although there were some propagandists who actually tried to use the   
   anti-Semitism weapon against him, even they knew this was farcical. One had   
   to hear the moving interview that Goldstone's daughter Nicole gave to Razi   
   Barkai on Army Radio Wednesday, to understand that he is in fact a lover of   
   Israel and its true friend. She spoke, in Hebrew, of the mental anguish her   
   father experienced and of his conviction that, had he not been there, the   
   report would have been much worse. All he wants is an Israel that is more   
   just, she explained.   
      
   Neither can anyone doubt his legal credentials, as a top-level international   
   jurist with an impeccable reputation. The man who found out the truth about   
   Rwanda and Yugoslavia has now done the same regarding Gaza. The former chief   
   prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague is not only a   
   legal authority, he is also a moral authority; therefore complaints about   
   the judge won't hold water. Instead, it is time to look closer at the   
   accused. Those responsible are first and foremost Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak   
   and Gabi Ashkenazi. So far, incredibly, none of them has paid any price for   
   their misdeeds.   
      
   Cast Lead was an unrestrained assault on a besieged, totally unprotected   
   civilian population which showed almost no signs of resistance during this   
   operation. It should have raised an immediate furor in Israel. It was a   
   Sabra and Chatila, this time carried out by us. But there was a storm of   
   protest in this country following Sabra and Chatila, whereas after Cast Lead   
   mere citations were dished out.   
      
   It should have been enough just to look at the horrendous disparity in   
   casualties - 100 Palestinians killed for every Israeli - to shake the whole   
   of Israeli society. There was no need to wait for Goldstone to understand   
   that a terrible thing had occurred between the Palestinian David and the   
   Israeli Goliath. But the Israelis preferred to look away, or stand with   
   their children on the hills around Gaza and cheer on the carnage-causing   
   bombs.   
      
   Under the cover of the committed media, and criminally-biased analysts and   
   experts - all of whom kept information from coming out - and with   
   brainwashed and complacent public opinion, Israel behaved as if nothing had   
   happened. Goldstone has put an end to that, for which we should thank him.   
   After his job is done, the obvious practical steps will be taken.   
      
   It would be better for Israel to summon up the courage to change course   
   while there is still time, investigating the matter genuinely and not by   
   means of the Israel Defense Forces' grotesque inquiries, without waiting for   
   Goldstone. Olmert and Tzipi Livni must be brought to pay for their   
   scandalous decision not to cooperate with Goldstone, although at this point   
   that is spilled milk. Now that the report is on its way to the ICC and   
   arrest warrants could soon be issued, all that remains to be done is to   
   immediately set up a state inquiry commission in order to avert disgrace in   
   The Hague.   
      
   Perhaps next time we set out to wage another vain and miserable war, we will   
   take into account not only the number of fatalities we are likely to   
   sustain, but also the heavy political damage such wars cause.   
      
   On the eve of the Jewish New Year, Israel, deservedly, is becoming an   
   outcast and detested country. We must not forget it for a minute.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)