Barak 'incensed, but not surprised' by Goldstone report

"To Brad in Canada. Make aliyah. Fast. You are a true Israeli." You are a true terror-supporter.

"Being flip about the Goldstone Report won`t make it go away..." Being a proponent of the Goldstone report won't make it valid.

The UN's appointed judge failed to grasp the logic of self-defence of the Israeli occupation which struggles against the Soviet Union in the Gaza Strip. Israel, the nuclear, occupation entity, has the right to kill children and women to defend itself. This is the logic.

Our president is an intellectual, educated, decent and has regards to human values. He will do what is best for my America, and its allies. Mr. President, I am proud of you, and proud that you are my president.

"This has been an result of months of meticulous investigation".. Ok Denise care to back up your claim? Where physically there observing the parties reviewing the "facts" or are you merely relying on the lip service Goldstone and kangaroo court he presided over told you.? I think we know your answer. Hey Denise take a look at the list of countries on the human rights council who took part in this "meticulous investigation" and tell me with a straight face that this report was morally and legally objective. Whe countries such as China, Burma, Russia and THe Congo just a few countries who have committed serious war crimes and have not been investigated then you can wonder why Barak is as you put it Poo poo? IF all nations were held to the same standard I'm sure Israel's reaction to the report would not be justified.

Lets see, a community that is aloud to live in a small region in squalor, occupied, and is attacked in thier homes, whole families killed, whole streets obliterated. Because of war. Sounds familiar right? I am not saying it smacks of Nazi Germany..would never say that, of course. But why should anyone civilian die? There is a reason for war crimes investigation,and there are rules to war. Maybe Israel should abide, or they may look even more familiar terms. So...there are rules to engagment, and rules to humanity. Israelis needs some introspection on what is happening to their society as a whole, so thier childrens children can enjoy the dream too.

You are a true Israeli. Salaam/Shalom

The wanton killing of innocent "second-class" citizens does not sit well with this American President, who was a professor of constitutional law. He will watch, listen, and discern. If and when the crimes are proven, he will expect justice. Salaam/Shalom

Here is a news flash for you little man. The Goldstone report will not result in any further action, it will not result in legal action against any Israeli military personal for the pure simple reason that any morally sane and objective individual knows this report was born out of obsession by this human rights commission of destroying Israel at any cost. How Mr. Goldstone can look himself in the mirror with any dignity is amazing. This report will be file in a draw somewhere and be forgotton. Im sure you and all the other Jew haters are thinking otherwise however mark my words nothing will come of this frivilous report. Peace

he's a war criminal.

It doesn't at all matter that the Palestinian Hamas is weaker and has less firepower. What matters is that they started it all by firing thousands of missiles at Israeli civilian targets over the years. And if the Hamas chose to seek refuge among the civilan population and use homes as schools as launching sites, arsenals, firing posts, etc., then those homes and schools lose all immunity under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Too bad so many civiians were killed; but better their civilians than ours. I think the Hamas will think twice before starting a durther conflagraion. I also think that Israel need apologize for nothing.

Brad, please do justice to the foundations of the international legal system. It is not proper to discuss a subject that you are not aware of. International crimes were committed in Gaza while international laws were violated. These acts do not help the State of Israel to survive. The world is changing, in spite of 8 years of Bush/Cheney era that had no regard to the international system.

US Media = Hall of Shame

In what other context would a country guilty of war crimes have the opportunity to respond in numerous editorials? Were the leaders of Sudan and Burma invited to write editorials in the WSJ defending genocide and repression? Will we be seeing op-eds from Ahmadinejad defending the repression in Iran? The WSJ was not alone here; the Boston Globe published a series of op-eds on the same theme, with one by the Israeli ambassador to the US and another by a former govt PR professional. And this is supposed to be objective analysis? No other country would ever see its leaders publish op-eds defending their conduct in major US newspapers. Noticeably, most newspaper's actually published relatively little of the report itself, offering few details and generally masking the main conclusions. The US media is just bending over backward to try to discredit the report with unfounded accusations. Its fairly unprecedented.

It is hard to read the Goldstone report, it is so full of sad facts. What strikes me most in the report is the search for proven facts, respect for civilian rights (everywhere) and the rule of law (everywhere). The people attacking the report are very soft on facts and high on emotion. The text you cited is a prime example. If you read the report you see Goldstone is not soft on Hamas.

Steve Benassi We know exactly where you are trying to go, And Yet *Those in the Ghetto you speak of fought from inside the Ghetto only after they knew that the transport trains from their Ghetto who had already taken 300,000 of them, were destined to Extermination camps. And literally to the Extermination of each and every one of them, Men, Women, Children, and Babies, Girls and Boys, Fathers and Mothers, Grand Fathers and Grand Mothers Every One! *Israel did not get into Gaza with an intention to exterminate all its people as the Germans did to the Ghetto you speak of. Out of less then 60,000 Jews that have been in the Ghetto you speak of at the time of the month of rebellion, more then 56,000 Jews of the Ghetto you speak of, were either killed by the Germans or found their death in an extermination camp (yes why don`t you compare that to Gaza) *Israel did not go torching each and every house in Gaza to flush out civilians from the houses, as the Germans did in the Ghetto you speak of. *Israel did not literally gas people in sewage pipes as the Germans did, in the Ghetto you speak of, as that was the only place the Ghetto people could hide Go learn history before being a smart ass! P/S By the way, Steve Benassi from Minnesota USA your troops have not done better in Iraq of Afghanistan for you to criticize us!

Welcome to the debate. I read the transcript you point to. It does not cover any of the issues brought up in the Goldstone report. It does not give a reason for the killing of 31,000 chickens or the total destruction of the Cement factory. The destruction of which, without good military reasons, is a war crime. It did not go into why the IDF bombed a hospital, UN facility, fired White Phosphorous at civilians, forced civilians into a house before destroying it or used human shields. Explain just the first issue which was a war crime. Why did the IDF kill the 31,000 chickens? What was the military objective which would have justified it. You will have no answer as there is no answer. The IDF committed war crimes in Gaza. You would not admit it at any price as to do so is to admit your implied complicity. Your army, the IDF, committed war crimes and you support them. Forget any of the excuses that the world must examine every other issue before it turns it's attention to Israel.

But how can it be called "self-defense" when Israel came as intruders to Palestine and violently created their own state on land that belonged to the Palestinians ?

You should read what Ben Dror Yemini wrote about the subject ; http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgpc4hc9_136d88g8fcg

Hey - just curious - what do you say about Russian war crimes (100000 killed) http://www.crimesofwar.org/chechnya-mag/chech-felgenhauer.html

Israel's rule of thumb appears to be : "When facts you lack, attack. If you can't deny, lie."

International law says one may use sufficient force to defend oneself and one's citizens. Clearly, Israel did not use sufficient force, though it may have been overwhelming. Not only was it not sufficient, it didn't even approach the force that could have been utilized. Imagine Israel firing 14,000 of its rockets into Gaza indiscriminately. The carnage would have dwarfed what the Pals suffered and, sadly, for so many Pals, deserved. They voted in Hamas knowing full well what Hamas would do. They incurred the risk which for some materialized. And let me go further, if the law doesn't permit states or individuals to use sufficient force to defned themselves, the law is simply unrealistic. I think if you check your domestic law and mine, you will find that my description of the law is accurate. And I, Barak and almost all Israelies would support prosectution of individuals who, like Hamas, gratuitously targeted civilians. Where is the reliable evidence?

No, it doesn't sound familiar. I don't recall Jews firing rockets at German civilians. That was not the trigger of the Nazi assault. Sounds different! Abolutely, profoundly different. Not only were Israelies defending themselves, 14,000 rockets later, but the numbers, even Goldstones numbers, suggest remarkable restraint by the Israelies.

The fact remains that Israel used overwhelming power, knowingly and deliberately, to kill innocent civilians, and destroy their homes and buildings and businesses. If Barak thinks this is ok, then nothing in the history of terror and violence couldn't be justified. Any war criminals, past or present could make teh same argument.

Imagine over 1000 jews killed by a vastly superior army while they are trapped in their Ghetto, sound familiar?

Barak gave exactly what I expected. Exactly not one iota of truth. He did not address any of the list of allegations of crimes. I ask Barak: - Why did the IDF destroy 31,000 chickens? - Why did the IDF destroy the only cement factory in Gaza? Both these are war crimes. You may sneer, but destroying the infrastructure of an opponent country with no military reason is against International law. Now we can move onto other crimes. Shelling hospitals. White Phosphorous on civilians. Using human sheilds. Herding civilianss into houses and bombing them. Shoudld I go on. Barak does not see any of these as war crimes. Barak has blood on his hands and is lying to escape prosecution. Do I trust what he has to say after reading his response to the UN report. No. If he has nothing to hide, I invite him to approach the ICC to clear his name. Barak. I dare you. Clear your name at the ICC.

This has been an result of months of meticulous investigation...how does Barak think he can poo poo it? Why isn't most of Israel ashamed? The military claims that altogether 89 minors under the age of 16 died in the operation. However, B'Tselem visited homes and gathered death certificates, photos, and testimonies relating to all 252 children under 16, and has the details of 111 women over 16 killed. Whole families died, children in front of parents, where is the morality? The extremely heavy civilian casualties and the massive damage to civilian property require serious introspection on the part of Israeli society. Barak is incensed? we all should be incensed, every human on Earth needs to be upset, and not tolerate this.

This might shock Israeli's and Barak in particular. But the world saw what happened and there is no way around it. Israel occupies Palestine illegally and it is always a war crime to attack people you already occupy. It makes no difference what methodology you claim was wrong, the hundreds of kids are dead, the houses are bombed and demolished and the people are starving to death due to Israel. You hypocritical whingers have lost the world's sympathy almost entirely and it is time you lost your immunity to prosecution. Not all of the human rights reports in the world can be wrong when they include several by Israeli human rights groups can they? And Israel did not launch and offensive against hamas, they attacked policemen at a passing out parade and children as they changed schooling for the day. We all know the truth, we all saw it even if the US and Israel locked themselves in a bubble of ignorant denial.

A copy of it is here: http://dissectleft.blogspot.com/ It is, reduced to it's core, a plea that if anyone has any problems with what the IDF did in Gaza then they should bring it to Barak. Errrrr, Ehud, why should they bother? They may as well save you - and themselves - the trouble and simply toss their concerns into the rubbish bin. After all, that's exactly what you will do.....

...the longer Israel refuses to address the very real crimes Richard Goldstone's mission uncovered, the more people will read the report to see what the denial is about.

No debate about the content just the motivation?