Ehud Barak in an excellent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal recalls:
While such logic eluded Mr. Goldstone and his team, it was crystal clear to the thousands of Israeli children living in southern Israel who had to study, play, eat and sleep while being preoccupied about the distance to the nearest bomb shelter. When I accompanied then-presidential candidate Barack Obama on his visit to the shelled city of Sderot, he said “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.” Too bad the Human Rights Council wasn’t listening.
It’s not just that any country would have the right to defend its citizens, it’s also that no other country would be subject to this kind of scrutiny.
As long as Judge Richard Goldstone doesn’t probe the United States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka or Turkey, just as he probed Israel, he is not a moral figure. A law is a law only when it applies to everyone and does not discriminate, as Goldstone did.
The message of the Goldstone report is that Israel must not defend itself, and if it dares to do what any other country is allowed, it must be condemned. The double standard has a double standard.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
I have a question about this op-ed: Why is it not in the New York Times? Did they refuse to publish it?
Comment by Meryl Yourish — 09/25/2009 @ 9:15 am
Thanks for the reference, I didn’t see it myself. We’ve posted a review of Goldstone’s methodology at http://samsonblinded.org/blog/goldstone-report-the-rebuttal.htm
Comment by Danny — 09/25/2009 @ 3:04 pm