UNDERSTANDING
THE GOLDSTONE REPORT

The following is a translation of the original article that appeared online in Hebrew on Ynetnews

Goldstone Sent Dozens Of Blacks To Be Hanged

The dark past of Judge Richard Goldstone from the days of Apartheid in South Africa has been revealed. It turns out that the author of the report that accused Israel of war crimes and human rights violations in "Operation Cast Lead” enforced racist laws while serving as a judge in the 80's and 90's, imposed floggings and sentenced 28 Blacks to death. The judge responded: "I was part of the system"

From: The Jewish Chronicle Online

"My particular flawed pedigree and personality"

By Jonathan Hoffman

This was how Colonel Desmond Travers - Goldstone Commissioner - at last responded tonight (in a committee room in the UK Parliament) to the question of why he thinks that "British foreign policy is strongly influenced by Jewish lobbyists" (he said it in an interview with Middle East Monitor last month). Mind you, it took several attempts to get him to answer the question, both tonight and at LSE on 8 March:

From Arutz Sheva:

Goldstone Expert Complained of 'Jewish Lobbyists'

Shevat 26, 5770, 10 February 10 07:39by Gil Ronen

(Israelnationalnews.com) New revelations about the UN Goldstone Report seriously undermine its credibility. The findings were reported by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in a press conference Wednesday.

According to the JCPA, Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers, formerly of the Irish Defense Forces, was one of the four members of the UN Fact Finding Mission that produced the Goldstone Report. The Mission investigated Operation Cast Lead which Israel conducted in Gaza in January 2009. As the only former officer who belonged to Justice Richard Goldstone's team, he was the senior figure responsible for the military analysis that provided the basis for condemning Israel for war crimes.

JCPA said that serious flaws have recently become evident in Travers' collection and processing of data, and in the conclusions he drew. His bias became more evident after some of his recent interviews. The Jerusalem think tank enumerates these problems thus:

Haroon Siddiqui features Hina Jilani, one of the four "judges" in the Goldstone Fact-Finding Mission to Gaza. Unconsciously, perhaps, she highlights the dilemmas faced by the Mission, from the UN "Human Rights" council they reported to (headed by a country whose president she recommended face trial for crimes against humanity), and the (possibly misplaced) compassion that leads her to believe whatever Palestinians claim publicly: "I think it'd be very cruel to not give credence to their voices."

Siddiqui: Looking for accountability over Gaza war

By Haroon SiddiquiEditorial Page

Published On Thu Oct 15 2009

Comments (23)

She's a prominent supreme court lawyer in Pakistan. She and her sister, both lifelong human rights activists, have been attacked for defending Christian and Hindu minorities, and promoting women's rights. They have lived under police protection and at times house arrest for angering the authorities.