Goldstone: Holocaust shaped view on war crimes
The UN Judge that charged Israel with war crimes once said the notion of retribution stems from Holocaust.
By Anshel Pfeffer Tags: Goldstone report Israel newsJudge Richard Goldstone, the head of a United Nations commission that this week charged Israel with committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip during its offensive there last winter, believes bringing war criminals to justice stems from the lessons of the Holocaust, according to a lecture he delivered in Israel in 2000.
Goldstone spoke about the subject at Jerusalem's Yakar: Center for Tradition and Creativity, at a lecture attended by former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak. The Israeli jurist introduced Goldstone as "a dear friend" with "very deep ties to Israel." Goldstone, in turn, said Barak was his hero and inspiration.
In the lecture, concerning international efforts to bring war criminals to justice, Goldstone said the Holocaust has shaped legal protocol on war, adding that it was "the worst war crime in the world."
He also said the perception of war crimes against humanity should resonate differently to Jewish ears, in light of how the Holocaust shaped conventions relevant to the subject.
Goldstone added that as a jurist, he viewed the Holocaust as a unique occurrence because of how it affected judicial protocol on war, as well as international and humanitarian judicial approaches.
The laws that had been in place before the Holocaust were not equipped to deal with crimes of the Holocaust's scale and therefore sought to define a new crime, which they labeled a crime against humanity, he said.
These crimes were so great, he explained, they went beyond their direct victims or the countries in which they were perpetrated, to harm humanity as a whole. This definition, he said, meant that perpetrators were to be prosecuted anywhere, by any country.
This rational, he went on to say, constituted the basis for the concept of universal jurisdiction, which is being applied by some countries where Israel Defense Forces officers are charged for alleged violations during their command in the West Bank and Gaza.
The formative event of the universal jurisdiction concept, Goldstone told listeners, was the trial that Israel gave the high-ranking Nazi officer Adolf Eichman in 1961.
The international tribunals that judged Serbian war criminals for their actions in Bosnia, and the establishment of tribunals to review the actions of perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide - in which South Africa-born Goldstone served as chief prosecutor - also relied on lessons drawn from the Holocaust, he said at the lecture.
He noted that no similar courts were set up to look into the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia in the '70s or Saddam Hussein's acts against Iraqi Kurds.
The first time such tribunals were set up were for Bosnia, Goldtone said, because this was the first time after the Holocaust that such occurrences happened in "Europe's backyard." The war in Bosnia led to the formation of tribunals on crimes against humanity, he said, because European men with "blue eyes and light skin" again carried out actions similar to those observed in the Holocaust.
Israel, he added, was one of the first countries to support the formation of permanent court of law for crimes against humanity - a proposal that came up following the successful performance of the special tribunals on Bosnia.
However, that changed, he said, after Egypt insisted at the Rome conference that the mandate of this permanent court include occupied territories. This prompted Israel to join the six other countries that voted against the formation of the International Court of Justice, including the United States, China and Libya.
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Goldstone tries to Guilt Trip Israel As in -- the Jews caused the legal concept of "crimes against humanity" You can point out where he does this ...Yes?Y
"to equate the war in Gaza with the Holicaust is insulting to say the least." Indeed. Goldstone didn't.
"The problem is that his conception of the Laws of War is flawed. There is no enforcement mechanism." The UNSC " Traditionally the laws of war were based on reciprocity. What you do to me, I am free to do to you." You can point this out no doubt??? Yes?
Maybe I missed something. I thought Israel didn't really cooperate with an investigation because they felt it had a pre-determined outcome to attack Israel. As we all know information gathered from the Palestinians is always tainted. They have been caught lying, exaggerating, fabricating and staging false stories for so long that new terminology had to be created to describe the constant lies. "Pallywood" was the term, ever hear of it. So what are you talking about?
As in -- the Jews caused the legal concept of "crimes against humanity" and now should live by these concepts.Yeah, in the evolving legal definition of "crimes against humanity" the Holocaust was one of many many factors. Goldstone is a trained lawyer and lives in a theoretical world of impeccable human beings and perfect hindsight. Read the Roman Statutes, founding the International Criminal Court and see the pages and pages of subjective words in the definition of " crimes against humanity". Basically war activities being challengeable by lawyer's hindsight. Goldstone's perfect war would have one brilliant lawyer with each soldier advising on what is ok and what is not ok. Perfect for a classroom, not the real world.
to equate the war in Gaza with the Holicaust is insulting to say the least. Israel responded after 8 years of rockets and I am only sorry Israel didn't take tons of prisoners so that Gilad Shalit would be home with is family for Rosh Hashana
Lovely company Israel keeps. Libya, China and the US are the worst human rights abusers on the planet and Israel has decided to join them. Well if Israel won't allow jurisdiction and punish their own war criminals they better not whine if the Palestinians can't punish their own war criminals. The world has had a gutful of this pack of rogue squatters stealing, killing, maiming and starving innocent people. Bibi did not suffer in the war, he was not born. None of the little brats murdering Palestinians today were born in the 1940's yet they behave just like the gestapo as others have noted. Could it be that facist Poles and Germans didn't fall far from the tree of poisoned fruit in their blood and the Russian Stalinists are not far removed from old Joe when they migrate illegally to Palestine.
I would love to see the bleeding hearts of the Western World create a program to rescue the Arabs of Palestine from their fate. That fate is inevitable. The Israeli right wants their land and the Israeli left does not oppose that. Thus the land available to the Arabs of Palestine will decline until no farm or orchard may exist, and the blockade will stop all commerce. Then the remaining Palestinians will starve as the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto did until the Likud finally decides to dispose of them to lessen the cost of starving them. The fate of the Palestinian Arabs is to be eradicated unless the world saves them. The world, I fear, will not. Rather it will continue to bitch and whine about Israel while Israel does what it has to do to achieve what it wants. But is that not what the world did for the Jews in the 1930s until WW II made it necessary for Nazi Germany to do what it had to do to achieve what it wanted? It is still possible to save both the Palestinians and Israel.
Certainly the lessons about morality and humanity learned by the West as a result of the Holocaust have nothing to do with Israel today. The Holocaust is a lesson about what happens when a nation has the belief that it may carve 'living room' out of inferior races. The Holocaust happened when a nation believed it's racial and historic superiority gave it the right to exterminate inferior races. The Holocaust had everything to do with racial arrogance and inhumanity. And thus Goldstone learned the wrong lesson. Goldstone learned the lesson that Western Democracies learned. That Racial arrogance and greed were wrong. Israel learned an different lesson. Israel learned it had the right to dispossess anyone and do anything it wanted because long ago, many of the people a nation with the same racial theories as Israel murdered Jews. Goldstone has learned nothing. He still thinks that the Jews of Israel are like the Jews the Nazis murdered. They are not. They are more like the Nazis.
The problem is that his conception of the Laws of War is flawed. There is no enforcement mechanism. Traditionally the laws of war were based on reciprocity. What you do to me, I am free to do to you. The Germans and Japanese launched wars of terror against allied civilians. They got it back. Had the Allies fought as Goldstone thinks wars should be fought he wouldn't be around, he or perhaps his parents would have been smoke. The general rule has been aggressor pays. On this basis Lebanon should have been laughed out of court after their attack on Israel provoked a greater response than they expected. Likewise Hamas launched a war of aggression from Gaza characterized by indiscriminate attacks on civilians. They established the precedent they ought to be made to live with the consequences. (And note: that was the elected government of Gaza. They voted for war, they go war. What's there problem?) Goldstone's problem is that he has confused war with a sporting event.
His philosophy on war crimes makes perfect sense. However, I'm not sure how this applies to Cast Lead... There are clear, definitive differences between the intent, scale, scope and circumstances of the genocides described above and the defensive operation conducted by Israel. P.S. may everyone have a peaceful and joyious new year and a festive and peaceful Ramadan.
Exactly, Goldstone. "Mission accomplished" as George Bush said just before the real war started. I believe they're fighting over there?Poor choice of parallel, if you ask me.
it might not be music to deceivers ears but truth and honesty will prevail. this man has no hidden agenda he only speaks based on facts collected from both sides .there are lots of voices of reason and common sense coming from israel but most of the time are muffeled by big mounth up to no good politicians or military commanders
Easy for you to say from cosy Florida, the rockets haven't actually stopped only the news has. And as for Bush 'mission accomplished' how wrong he was, Iraq is still a war zone.
who mission was accomplish? and the calm will not last long as long Israel dont try to achieve peace with his cousin
Any act of self defense by Israel is a war crime unless as many Israelis are killed as Palestinians. The Six Day War was Israel's greatest war crime.
Israel also learned some hard lessons. Quiet in Sedrot depends on quiet in Gaza. IDF stopped assasinations, incursions into Gaza at will and using starvation as a tactic of a regime change in Gaza. Now GAZA gets all its wants. Basically, Israel accepted Hamas as defacto ruler in Gaza. Off course, last but not least tunnels are open and kicking.
Big deal, who cares, lets move on. I think the Palis have learned a lesson because it is all quiet at the front.Mission complished as George would put it.