The Goldstone Report and Retraction: Damage Done and Undone

Following his assignment to investigate the 2008-2009 Gaza War waged by Israel, South African jurist Richard Goldstone issued a damaging Report, in which he invidiously charged that Israeli troops purposely targeted civilians during military forays of 2009 into Gaza.

Despite the incendiary charges of this report, the state of Israel, the Prince with God that endured struggle with the Almighty, has endured despite the reproach of hostile states and erroneous denunciations from international organizations.

The Jewish State has overcome military threats to its existence, from the attempted military coup by the surrounding Arab states in 1948 to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Israel also weathered the storm of international opinion, including the U.N.'s racist demonization of Zionism in a 2001 summit in South Africa, and now the Goldstone Report.

As a silver lining in a dark cloud of denunciation, Report's mendacious claims galvanized the Jewish State to further fine-tune future military operations. Besides the United States, Israel is the only nation in the world which compromises armed defensive combat by warning civilians in enemy states of their approach. Whether by dropping leaflets or sending text messages to Palestinian residents, Israels has followed strict procedures to ensure the least possible loss of life.

Fortunately, Richard Goldstone earlier this month issued a (tepid) Retraction of his infamous Report . Mitigating the damning substance of his previous Report, Goldstone's Retraction underlines the extensive steps taken by Israel to safeguard Israeli and Palestinian by-standers caught in the terrorist cross-fire of Hamas and Fatah. Furthermore, the Retraction has also emphasizes the deliberate failure of the Palestinian leadership to investigate war crimes. Most importantly, though, the Retraction has reminded the world of Hamas' deliberate neglect and endangerment of their own people.

Having validated the humane and democratic nature of the Jewish State, the Goldstone Retraction exposes the illogical and immoral nature of accusations levied against the Jewish State by international bodies, especially the UN, whose organization accords to terrorist states and dictatorial regimes the authority to pass judgment on the Israel government and military.

Even though Goldstone's Reaction does not go far enough in promoting greater comity among the nations on behalf of the Jewish State, it does underscore the resilience of the Israelis to defend themselves and undo the damage of baseless international calumny.