Richard Goldstone, who chaired the U.N. fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict, wrote in the Washington Post last Friday that had he known what he knows today about the Gaza war of 2008-09, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.
He has now concluded that the crimes committed by Hamas were intentional and that their rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets whilst Israel’s actions indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.
He also criticized Israel’s lack of cooperation, (which was due to the one sided mandate of the enquiry).
Goldstone wrote that Israel has investigated its own actions with transparency to a significant degree whilst Hamas has done nothing and that regrettably, there has been no effort by Hamas in Gaza to investigate the allegations of its war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
Such war crimes continue to this day with no condemnation from the UNHRC.
Alan Aziz, Chief Executive of the ZF said: “We are saddened that this retraction has barely been reported in the mainstream media who all went to great lengths to report on the original report and notes once again that this type of selective reporting highlights the manner in which Israel is singled out for special and biased treatment”
Goldstone concluded that the U.N. Human Rights Council should condemn the heinous acts of Hamas in the strongest terms and that the Human Rights Council should also condemn the inexcusable and cold-blooded recent slaughter of a young Israeli couple and three of their small children in their beds (which the ZF notes was also largely ignored by the mainstream media).
The Goldstone report has been one of the most damaging libels ever produced against the State of Israel. Whilst the re-assessment by Goldstone is very welcome the ZF hopes this is just the beginning of his efforts to undo the enormous damage he has caused
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