Finance Minister: UN backing of Goldstone report is `anti-Semitic`

You wouldnt have to defend yourself from Gaza if you quit attacking them.

If Israel committed war crimes as the Goldstone report alleges, it seems to me that Israel is anti-Palestinian, not anti-Semitic! Now really, why is the world using all kinds of excuses not to examine the report and seek the truth? Have war crimes or people that commit them become sacred cows? Are war crimes acceptable if Israel commits them but not so if Hamas is the villian?

Anti-semitism has reared its head in the world, again, and yes, the Jews and Israel are scapegoats again, in lieu of, and instead of, the massive and relentless harm inflicted on persons everywhere. Africa is a nightmare, Islamic nations are a nightmare, all sorts of hidden and revealed abuses occur and no one cares. I live in Africa and I shudder when I read some of the abuses and atrocities that occur regularly. UN Human Rights? - what is that. They are deaf and blind to all of that. They have have a magnifying and distorting lens aimed at little ol' Israel, which is bravely defending its precious strip of land. We will not yield, we will not bend to the hypocrisy that has gripped the world. History revisited indeed, the 1940's are not that far away, and for the current generation it is right here. Goldstone is a weak fool.

Massive voter fraud by Hamid Karzai in recent Afghamistan elections ,daily atrocities in Pakistan ,canage in Iran ,more hijackings off the coast of Somalia ,mysterious explosions in Hezbollah land yet no comments by the propagandis ts on this blog.What,s going and why the double standards ?

Some radical leftwing students in the UK won,t allow the BBC to partake in a talkshow where the Fascist BNP Nick Griffin is present.A question for these irresponsible students,you don,t use your same tactics against the equally fascist Muslim factions who say what they like on the very same BBC ,so why the blatant double standards ?

Who decides proportionality and on what grounds?I f the school bully ,who repeatedly ,beats up his younger and smaller classmates ,eventually comes face to face with the older brothers of his victims ,and gets the beating of his life ,does he now run to the school PTA and cry wolf?If he does and is protected by the PTA who,s kids were beaten up then there,s definitely something wrong with the system.

Another bloody day in the Muslim world in Pakistan Afghanistan yet the Islamofascists who appear on this blog don,t care to comment ,so why this blatant hypocrisy?A typical Arab cover up of heinous crimes against just like those committed by Hamas,Hezbollah ,the butcher of Sudan ,the madmen in Tehran and everywhere else in that backwards 6th century ideology .

Anti-semitism and anti -Israel are one and the same so don,t be confused .

Haed conveniently leaves the Qasssam salvoes in Sderot and Ashkelon off his agenda ,so why does he do this .hopefully he can come back with a truthful answer and not Arab propaganda again ?

A simple question for Graziana,who in Hamas or the Arab world is going to investigate the war crimes and gross manipulation of the media by Hamas during the conflict ,maybe you seeing that you know so much ?

According to BBS shooting 1000,s of Qassams at civilians in Sderot and Ashkelon is fine but defending oneself is not .This nauseating hypocrisy is only showing up her anti-semitic bias so why doesn,t she simply go away and stop with the Arab propaganda already.

There is no more USED shield against critisism for a zionist than 'anti-Semitism'. The term holds no water anymore.

""now is the time for every good man to come to the aid of his country" The other side presto, chango, turns into women. It must be 'magic.

I appreciate it when a party trots out the old Anti-Semitic ploy. It is automatic proof that he has no adequate defence for the proposition he is opposing. That form of crying wolf has lost its power and is now useless in the extreme.

Not all Israelis are zionists (thank God) and not all zionists are Israelis or even Jews. I have no problem with Jews, unless they are zionists. I have no problem with Israelis unless they are zionists. It is the zionism that is evil.

I am appalled and ashamed by the actions of the IDF in GAZA. I am also a US citizen of Jewish decent who lost family members in the holocaust. Does that make ME Anti-Semitic? Like most of you, I was raised to believe in human rights for ALL people... not just the Jews.

The word anti-Semitism has been flogged to death. It has lost all meaning. The most ridiculous aspect of it is that the 220 million Arabs are Semites, yet they're anti-Semitic! In fact European Jews are not Semites at all. They have deceptively co-opted the appellation. But the cat is slowly coming out of the bag. You can't fool all the people all the time.

I tend to agree with you on that. I would say that Israel should be held to a higher standard than Russia or Sri Lanka but I still don't understand why Israel SHOULD be held to a higher standard than that of USA or UK or France or Canada? I also disagree that "Israel used its response as a punitive measure against the entire Gazan population". Hamas militants are simply embedded in the population. They simply live and fire from civilian buildings and populated areas.

War is Israels condition sine qua non

Roger Cohen's opinion piece in the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/opinion/16iht-edcohen.html?ref=global Too the point...it seems to me

Criticizing the political agenda of Mr. Liberman or Mr. Netanyahu is NOT anti semitism! Agree, but criticizing the whole concept that Jews have a right to have a state of their own or critisizing right to defend it is. Reporting on the reality of the war in Gaza is NOT anti semitism. Agree, but only if it is an honest reporting. Critisizing IDF only for civilian casualities or military mistakes that happens in every war is. What western or other armies have lower civilian casuality or military blunder rates?

Will:"Israel SHOULD be held to a higher standard than Hamas. I don`t expect Hamas to respect international law, the rules of war, or even basic human decency..." Will, clearly you don't believe all people are equal. You can't hold one side to a higher standard than the other side. You can't forgive one side their transgressions and not the other side or you are open to the criticism of bigotry, elitism and racism.

Israel has the right to defend itself !!! Well done job in Gaza ! Will be repeated 1000 times if needed. Bravo Israel ! (ignore all your foes and their stinking opinions)

Antisemitic is letting war criminals off the hook. Mr Steinitz obviously has no clue.

The comparison to other nations powerfully defending themselves from terrorists is appropriate. Keep building the fence, and respond promptly to the rockets.

The term "anti-Semitic" (or "anti-Semite") usually refers to Jews only. It was coined in 1879 by German journalist Wilhelm Marr in a pamphlet called, "The Victory of Germandom over Jewry". Using ideas of race and nationalism, Marr argued that Jews had become the first major power in the West. He accused them of being liberals, a people without roots who had Judaized Germans beyond salvation. In 1879 Marr founded the "League for Anti-Semitism".

It is nice to hear from people who understands that words have meanings and that those meanings important. I find the concept, and substance, of anti-Semitism, "hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group" profoundly disturbing, disgusting and unjustified. To debase the word by turning it into a knee-jerk accusation void of true meaning is to render an ugly concept a somewhat lesser evil.

"viz. "`anti-Semitic` has become a meaningless word; it`s used by Zionists for purely political intimidation." - hollingsworth an·ti?Sem·i·tism Function: noun Date: 1882 : hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group ? an·ti?Se·mit·ic \-sə-ˈmi-tik\ adjective ? an·ti?Sem·ite \-ˈse-ˌmīt\ noun It has a very specific meaning hollingsworth. It also has a specific background, being first used by an Austrian scholar in response to a German scholars thesis that the 'semitic' races were inferior to the "aryan" races. Racism was a very popular theory in Europe and America at that time. I will agree that the profligate and often trivial abuse of the word to describe anyone who disagrees with anything Israel does has cheapened the term. Any word may be abused or overused or even dismissed as meaningless by hollow heads.

After all, he does appear to believe that "anti-semitism" = "criticism of Israel". Not too sure where he got that meaning from, but I can be pretty certain he didn't get it from a dictionary. Maybe he got it from Mark Regev.

Human Rights council ignores sri lanka war, ignores iraq war, ignores georgia vs russia war, ignores afghansitan war, ignores fatah vs hamas, but they use resolution after resolution against israel. They even had a resolution praising sri lanka. This same council ignores the darfur crimes.

The Goldstone Report made a spurious pretence of even-handedness to avoid being recognised as antisemitic. That is why Goldstone mentioned in passing that Hamas was guilty of war crimes when it fired missiles at civilians in Israel. The UNHRC chose to pervert Goldstone's perversion of justice when it failed to mention the original war crimes committed by Hamas and condemn only the Israeli self-defence operation against those same Hamas war crimes that Goldstone had reported. That is why the Finance Minister is right to point out the obviously antisemitic double standard.

Samuel, your blathering which for the most part are half-truths does not address my question. But even if everything you said was true, does that negate the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad firing rockets into towns where innocent men, women and children live are war crimes? Of course not. Harold: Sounds like you want it both ways. This report which was commissioned by the UN, covered the alleged crimes of both sides, not just Israel. So all of a sudden the UNHRC, an organ of the UN itself, decides to cherry pick what they want out of Goldstone's report just to censure one side of the conflict? That's total inconsistency - the UN is changing the rules in the middle of the game here. But it does show anti-Israel bias typical of the UN.

China Russia UK Sudan Syria Iran Lebanon Egypt Holland France Do you get the point?

Yes, he has a point. I've seen anti-semitic acts grow in a disproportionate progression these three last years.

I have plenty of JEWISH freinds and Mr Smith they are like you. They are good god fearing people that have a great loving heart to people that are not only Jewish but to those around them no matter their nationality or religion. I will never say all JEWISH PEOPLE are BAD. But I say that the Israeli government is corrupt and to self rightous to be in power. You need more pragmatic people that care for just more than themselves to lead.

Definition of anti semitism (2009 dictionary): the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people I think it is about time that politicians stop using this adjective so lightly. Calling Goldstone anti semitic is an insult!!! Criticizing the political agenda of Mr. Liberman or Mr. Netanyahu is NOT anti semitism! Reporting on the reality of the war in Gaza is NOT anti semitism. Please Mr. Yuval Steinitz use your words wisely, and stop using insults... The world is fed up with hearing anti semitism as a response when you nothing else can be said!

I am really glad of how alert and unbiased all commentators here are about the subject.

Semit is a word describing those countries who speak semetic language. Those countries that speaks semetic language are: All Arabs, Ethiopians, Assyrians, Caldians, and some African countries besides the Arabs.

Dear Mr. steinitz, if you don't know the difference between self-defence and killing and starving a whole population , please shut-up.

# 17 writes: ??UNHRC is certainly discriminating against Israel by picking and choosing what they want out of the Goldstone report, blaming only Israel and not Hamas? If that is not unfair, one-sided anti-Israel actions, please explain to me why not." ---- I?ll explain, if allowed by the Moderator. Because it was Israel who imposed the blockade and hindered all possible peaceful solutions. It should not be forgotten that it was the Israeli government who wrecked the truce with Hamas right on the 4th of November - the Obama election day - when all the world media were preoccupied with this event. On that day Israeli commandos invaded Gaza killing there 6 militants. BEFORE THAT during the truce months - from July to November, 2008 ? there were only a couple of shots from Gaza (for which Hamas denied its responsibility) with no Israeli casualties. Little doubt, that the Cast Lead was premeditated and provoked by the Israeli leaders.

Israel signed many documents before becoming a member of the United Nations and agreed to honor the contents of those documents. Hamas has not and is not recognized as a state. It is named as a terrorist GROUP and not a terrorist STATE.

***The UN wants to commit genocide of the Israeli Jews by tying our hands from being able to defend ourselves. And Goldstone gave the antisemites the means to do it.*** Elly- Do you have any idea how stupid your statment sounds?

There is huge hypocricy as the same human rights council members cheered sri lanka which killed far more. Also this hypocricy when the UK army doesn't investigate their abuses for iraq but somehow that is indepdendent and the IDF isn't.

I don't expect Hamas to respect international law, the rules of war, or even basic human decency. They are terrorists and barbarians, plain and simple. I do expect this behavior out of Israel. They are a nation that I consider civilized, and should have a basic respect for the above-mentioned items. Does Israel believe that they deserve a free-pass on such investigations because similar allegations against the US and Russia were not addressed? Is it fair? Perhaps not, but it does not diminish from the allegations in the Goldstone Report. Without a doubt Israel has a right to self-defense, and some sort of action in Gaza was certainly appropriate given the rocket fire from Hamas. That being stated, Israel's right to self-defense does not permit it to use high explosives and white phosphorous in heavily populated areas. Israel used its response as a punitive measure against the entire Gazan population and condemnation is rightly deserved.

Well described and said. The word anti-Semitic became a broken record and is repeated hundred times a day just to prove Zionism is right and pure from crimes.

viz. "where is the Goldstone report on Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechneya, South Ossetia, etc, etc?" But none of these other countries or regions gets 15 billion taxpayer dollars a year from the U.S.,(according to ex-House Rep. James Traficant), a good portion of which is used to carry out its nefarious activities. Israel does, and must be called to account.

In instances in which Israel receives criticism, their response is predictable and cliched. It is fodder for a comic strip.

viz. "`anti-Semitic` has become a meaningless word; it`s used by Zionists for purely political intimidation." The epithet "anti-Semitism" has become extremely passe. But apparently Israel apologists have not gotten the message yet.

Israel's campaign of whine, smear and victimhood has failed miserably. Israel needs to do what Judge Goldstone asked it to. Conduct an open and honest investigation of Cast Lead. Israel did of the Second Lebanon War, and despite all the hand wringing and teeth gnashing, that failed to register with the politicians and generals. Unless Israel puts it's own spotlight upon who did what to whom and why, then the last two disasters, the Second Lebanon War and Cast Lead will be repeated.

The fact is the World knows that Israel is accused of being a bunch of war criminals. Using the cannard of Anti semitism just shows the Finance minister has already conceded that the argument is lost and is trying to accuse everyone of being

So to ask investigate the findings of the Goldstone report is anti-Semitic??? As I interpret the report it is extremely pro every civilian or given the population in the region "pro-semitic".

"NATO and the UN endorsed and supported US military action and joined in the battle." I am just curious where NATO or the UN authorized strikes intended to kill civilians? Jim Jones, the BHO Security adviser stated quite clearly that the US is, and will continue to, kill civilians if it serves the US war effort. Since January, thousands have been killed on the BHO watch. From 2004 to 2008, 84000 Iraqi CIVILIANS have been killed by the US led forces. PLEASE let me know where the US or Britain were provided the mandate by the Islamists of the UN to kill innocent women and children? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,541260,00.html?test=latestnews http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,546464,00.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11karzai.html?_r=2

then go off Israel's back and stop "paying attention to Israel" like by reading this article! If you say that to Russia you would be the one crying and you know it.

Exactly my thoughts. Zionists have used this silly canard for so long whenever somebody legitimately criticizes Israel that "anti-semitism" when it occasionally occurs will no longer be taken seriously. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot!

There is nothing in the Goldstone report to even hint anti-Semitism,

That is with both Israel and Gaza with Gaza taking presidence

No one falls for the " ANTI-SEMITIC " nonsence anymore, cop yourself on, you are as guilty as hell.

Where does it say anything about rape from Israel? Russia in Chechnya killed about 20% of the totel population. Israel.....well you get the point. Why say such nasty and ugly things. Go to Russia or turkey and see if you can lay on your back and makes hateful lies. You are a fool and a hateful one. Why be like that, eh?

Individuals from Afghanstan attacked the USA. NATO and the UN endorsed and supported US military action and joined in the battle. Israel didn't get approval or support from any other Country, Treaty or United Nations, to invade & execute their Cast Lead operation.

But does anybody pay attention to Israel every time it cries "anti-semitism"? This is like the story about the boy who cried wolf. One day there will be real anti-semitism threatening Israel, but nobody will be listening to Israel's hysterical screams anymore. Time to face the consequences of your acts as men, and quit hiding behind your tragic history. It doesn't work any longer.

A word is defined by usage. 'Anti-Semitic' has come to mean 'opposed to or critical of Israel.' Therefore, the Goldstone Report -- and for that matter, most of the world -- is indeed 'anti-Semitic.' I agree completely.

The personification of a central government for an idependent modern state--is ridiculous. American Jews are changing and it's away from Israel for articles, comments and thinking like this. Anti-semitic is used in this article, as if the person had TURRETS Syndrone. Israel wake up this is what turns people off.

Israel is also allowed to end their occupation in less than a decade.

"A state that is trying to defend itself from the Gaza strip"? Is he serious? Does the Gaza strip have a mechanized army, nuclear warheads, a fleet of F-16s, warships and submarines? Again, we have the canard of a beleaguered and isolated Israel under attack from the mighty Arabs. It might work on the ignorant, but most thinking people know better. And to play the despicable "anti-semitism" card is completely childish and pathetic.

Self defense! This is crazy!!! Defenseless and poor Israel has: - 75-200 nuclear weapons plus many neutron bombs - over 1,500,000 military people - another 1,300,000 fit for military service - over $13,000,000,000 ($3B) military spending per year - over 1,400 planes - over 3,000 tanks - over 1,300 artillery - over 7,000 combat vehicles - over 65 submarines and military boats - plus many unknown new technologies, bombs, missiles, rockets, devices, etc. You call that defenseless against an occupied people with stones and primitive kitchen-made "rockets". You are the second strongest army in the world. You are the strongest army in the developing and third-world. You ought to be embarrassed of yourself.

An attempt to misdirect the discourse. There has never been any question about Israel having a right to defend itself; the question is what it may do while in the process of doing so.

It's time for an open discussion to take place at the UNSC. Judge Goldstone did a great job in tough circumstances. I would have loved that my government participated. Still Mr. PM, you have an opportunity to put your facts on the table. No need to try to "convince" others to vote against the report blindly. Stand up and be counted. Bottom line: The world demands that this report be discussed. Now that Palestinian pressure forced Mr. Abbas to open the report for discussion, we will start the critical process of truth, reconciliation, healing, and forgiveness. This will lead to peace. Peace NOW!

Whilst I would agree with the Foreign Minister that the Goldstone Report was not balanced and placed more blame on Israel for war crimes than it did seriously blame Hamas for its crimes, I would not agree that this report is anti-Semitic. In fact, I would agree with many of the other posters here that calling things "anti-Semitic" all the time has been over used and has lost its meaning. Today, Israelis unfortunately have little tolerance of any criticism against their Government's policies and are quick to raise the specter of anti-Semitism. The crutch won't work anymore. I agree Israel has the right to defend itself just as any nation does, but proportionality must be taken into consideration when retaliation is required.

so this aryan jew is saying Goldstone's report is anti-semitic? i think it is pro semitic since it questions why so many semitic palestinians civilians were slaughtered in gaza

If not, where is the Goldstone report on Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechneya, South Ossetia, etc, etc? Put it another way, if the Israelis weren't Jews, would any of you even have read this article or responded to it, or even have cared? Certainly, the countries that voted for the UN resolution would not. God certainly blessed the arabs when he made their enemies Jewish.

... these inane overused mantras used by the so-called Finance Min shame us more than they harm us...

"Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz on Sunday accused the United Nations Human Rights Council of anti-Semitism" It may not be anti-semitism but the UNHRC is certainly discriminating against Israel by picking and choosing what they want out of the Goldstone report for their resolution, blaming only Israel and not Hamas even though Goldstone accused both sides of war crimes. The UNHRC is cherry picking. If that is not unfair, one-sided anti-Israel actions, please explain to me why not.

There is nothing in the Goldstone report to even hint anti-Semitism, it is simply a call to BOTH Israel and Hamas to inquire the possibility of war crimes conductedin Cast Lead operation and its run up. Stop this stupid Hasbara, it might work on your lower class population but it is an insult to most of the world intelligence and a lie.

if the anti-semitism reproach would be missing in this context. Unfortunately the Jews have over-used it long before, so nobody listens any more ...

Mr. Generous Steinitz says Israel is developing the Palestinian Authority and giving it donations. What BS, what crap!!! does he think he can fool people with his silly propaganda. Returning VAT money is not donations, it is the right of the PA to have it back. And developing the PA ha ha ha... it was General Dayton's pressure that compelled Israel to remove some major roadblocks, not Israeli concern for the Palestinians. If he believes his own lies, that's his problem, but people are not fools.

Is anti-Semintism different from anti-Israeli?

When Israel is rightly condemned and criticised, anti-semitism is bleated out even though nothing racist has been said! Israel stop acting like a spoilt brat for a change!

We won't let Jews go again like lambs to the slaughter. But for Gazans we have no problem!

Essentially, 'anti-Semitic' has become anything that is not in Israel's interest. I must conclude the peace process is anti-semitic too and so is the rest of the world. 'anti-Semitic' has become a meaningless word; it's used by Zionists for purely political intimidation.

"UN backing of Goldstone report is `anti-Semitic`"......nice try. Playing the anti-Semitic card is very predictable. When you don't agree with what is being said....it always becomes `anti-Semitic`. Truth is Israel targeted the Palestinian population during the military raid on Gaza......it is most obvious.

To defend itself was never in question... The report ask why so many innocent was killed?Even your IDF soldiers tell how they killed just to kill?Before your goverment shut them up If I was you before it backfired I stop and i will investigate to see what all was done...why is it so much a problem, what you have to hide?

The Goldstone Report addressed the question of war crimes committed DURING the attack on Gaza; neither the provocation for the attack nor self-defense in general was assessed, and Steinitz--as well as the Prime Minister--do Israel no favor by treating those two issues as one.

Steinitz is a fool and an idiot. How he could compare the USA's actions in Afghanistan with Russia's in Chechnya goes to show what a fool he is. I don't think the Americans engaged in a deliberate policy of rape, murder, and carpet bombing to achieve their goals and I don't think Steinitz should be using Russia (or Turkey for that matter) as any yard stick by which to judge our actions. Idiot. And this man is in charge of the Finance Ministry; we can only hope no one listens to him there.

"We will need to think hard if we want to continue giving them donations and developing the Palestinian Authority. We can't continue turning the other cheek." Since when donations are given to the PA? But "developing the PA" is a new and very interesting news item.

'"We won't let Jews go again like lambs to the slaughter. The Jewish state has a right and a duty to defend its citizens no less that the United States, Russia, or Turkey."' He forgets, or does not care, that Israel has 20 per cent non-Jewish citizens.

...neither is shooting White Phosphorous on civilians, hospitals and UN facilities. The longer Israel officially makes these insane statements the more illegitimate the country becomes in the eyes of the world. Yuval Steinitz, the anti-Semites love you! Keep up the good work! Tell 'em how destroying Gaza agriculture was all about striking at militants! Tell them how killing sewage dumps and chicken houses made Israel more secure! Tell them about the Shining Beacon of light coming from the White Phosphorous trails that Israelis loved so much they actually picnicked on the hillsides and laughed and BBQ'd! Show the world how pathetic and psychotic Israel has truly become!