Mea Culpa? Not Quite

"We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the UN Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report. If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document." Judge Richard Goldstone

Admission of failure in apportioning blame? Mildly regretful, more likely. Not his fault, though. He invited the Government of Israel to co-operate, they chose not to. He did what he could, after all. Which was to alter the obvious bias that pertained with the original wording of the UN Human Rights Council's mandate for Judge Richard Goldstone's investigation into the Israel-Gaza conflict.

He iterates his acknowledgement of the UN Human Rights Council's "history of bias against Israel", which "cannot be doubted". Which did not hamper him from accepting the invitation to chair the UN Human Rights Council-sponsored fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict. He alludes in his article published in The Washington Post, to Israel's disinterest in co-operation with his investigation.

" Israel's lack of co-operation with our investigation meant that we were not able to corroborate how many Gazans killed were civilians..." and "...our recommendations based on the record before us, which unfortunately did not include any evidence provided by the Israeli government"

All the while being very aware that Israel had no reason, given the undeniable fact that the UN Human Rights Council constantly focuses on blaming-and-shaming one country alone in the entire Globe, and that as their chosen lead investigator into Israel's presumed crimes in prosecuting a war deliberately targeting civilians (a pre-ordained outcome anticipated) there was no reason to trust him, either.

Judge Goldstone condemns Hamas now for its lack of interest in pursuing its own investigation into charges of human rights abuses conducted by Hamas forces, allowing that he placed too much trust in anticipating that Hamas would pursue such internal investigations as urged by his report. Now, he clearly states that Hamas, though not constituting a "state' entity was guilty of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.

Hamas administers the Gaza Strip. Hamas in fact was duly and democratically elected to share governance with Fatah, of both Palestinian Territories. Hamas chose to forcibly remove Fatah from Gaza so it could singly govern the Palestinians there and mould them into an Islamist society, one at war with the more secular-minded Fatah. In essence, then, Hamas does constitute a "state" authority.

As for Fatah which heads the Palestinian Authority, the Goldstone Report alleged they were guilty of human rights abuses - assassinations, torture and illegal detentions "perpetrated by Fatah in the West bank, especially against members of Hamas. Most of those allegations were confirmed by this inquiry."

Judge Goldstone mentions the final report of the UN committee of independent experts chaired by former N.Y. Judge Mary McGowan Davis, which weighed the recommendations of his Goldstone Report and Israel's internal fact-finding of allegations of its "operational misconduct in Gaza". Which found that Israel commendably "dedicated significant resources to investigate over 400 allegations...", whereas Hamas committed to not one.

Judge Goldstone's semi-conciliatory explanations, his expressions of regret: "I would have welcomed Israel's co-operation...", his admissions of acknowledgement of the skewed judgement held by the UN's Human Rights Council against Israel, and his insistence that "I have always been clear that Israel, like any other sovereign nation, has the right and obligation to defend itself and its citizens against attacks from abroad and within", seem reproachfully self-serving.

Not his fault that the Goldstone Report issued a condemnation of Israel, assuming that the data collected from Hamas which was eager to "co-operate", in detailing the IDF's vicious intention to destroy Gaza and murder its citizens through state-sponsored genocide (who just happened to be living in very closely crowded conditions precisely where Hamas stored its munitions and shot rockets into Israel), was fact, not fiction.

Israel, after all, was invited to co-operate with the investigation and chose to conduct its own investigation. And did so in such an exemplary manner, although it is not entirely concluded, that its estimate of Palestinian citizens inadvertently killed by IDF forces came very close to the estimate of Hamas detailing the numbers that IDF forces deliberately slaughtered.

Judge Goldstone deplores the fact that Hamas has continued its rocket attacks into Israel. Although he thought that Hamas would "curtail its attacks", this has not occurred. "Sadly that has not been the case. Hundreds more rockets and mortar rounds have been directed at civilian targets in southern Israel.... The UN Human Rights council should condemn these heinous acts in the strongest terms."

As if.