Comments on: My HR 867 Postmortem http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/ A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:56:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Mike Okrent http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5637 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:21:45 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5637 We must indeed be careful in our word choices. As it seems, one person’s “ugly truths” are probably another person’s anti-semitic rants. Rather than focus upon word choice, it would be an improved situation when we could focus on the deeper truths of Goldstone. For all the comments on the “flaws” of Goldstone, the underlying “ugly truths” are often lost in the debate. Certainly Goldstone is not perfect. No complex, value-loaded endeavor ever is, especially when all the implicated parties were uncooperative and have an interest in disparaging it. Instead, we must get past the of merit of minor details, including tit-for-tat accusations and charges of inappropriate words, and get to the heart of the matter so we can improve for the future of all.

]]> By: Howard Ellegant http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5632 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:16:07 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5632 I encourage anyone who has not seen it to view Bill Moyers’ conversation with Justice Richard Goldstone. It aired several weeks ago on PBS. Find it at:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10232009/profile.html

]]> By: Trayf http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5631 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:36:53 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5631 Regarding the “Hamas equivalent” clearly we are not privy to their discussions, but there is clearly some major conflict within the organization that led to the cessation of suicide bombings, the adoption of rocket attacks, and then the cessation of those. The coup against Hamas, encouraged by the US, encouraged them to be less transparent, not more, I am sure. I would also recommend people read the Mondoweiss analysis of the vote, in which it is clear that JStreet provided cover for the increased number of “no” votes, even though they did not heavily lobby against the bill. In particular, three of their four Congressional panelists voted no, including one of the few Repubs to do so.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/11/post-gaza-the-lobby-lost-46-votes-in-the-house.html

]]> By: boris furman http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5630 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:40:42 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5630 Dear Rabbi Rosen,

As one of your congregants and an American Jew who believes very firmly in the need for a well informed and balanced perspective when a thought leader in our community recommends political action, I was deeply disappointed that you encouraged readers of your blog to use inflammatory language to communicate their opinions to their elected representatives. Using incitive catch phrases like “turning our eyes away from ugly truths” is unhelpful to the debate and does nothing to help our representatives get at the truth and make an informed judgement. It’s time to make our voices heard whatever our opinion but not in an inflammatory manner.
I would rather you had recommended your readers write a letter along these lines.
“Dear Rep. _____
I agree (disagree) with your vote for (against) House Resolution 867. I know that many issues are brought to your attention and I thank you for taking a stand on this very important and complicated matter.”

]]> By: Rabbi Brant Rosen http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5628 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:45:56 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5628 Michael,

I was interested to read Halbertal’s essay. I also recommend Jerry Haber’s detailed response, both Pt. 1 and Pt. 2.

Of course we could play this rhetorical ping pong forever. The bottom line, upon which Goldstone and Halbertal both agree, is that Israel and Hamas need to conduct their own independent, transparent and credible investigations of their wartime conduct. At this point, all the rest is commentary.

]]> By: Michael Sehr http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5626 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:15:36 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5626 Anyone interested in a balanced and rational examination of the Goldstone Report and the issues that it raises would benefit from reading Moshe Halbertal’s essay in the current issue of The New Republic. Halbertal starts his essay with the statement:

In 2000, I was asked by the Israel Defense Forces to join a group of philosophers, lawyers, and generals for the purpose of drafting the army’s ethics code. Since then, I have been deeply involved in the analysis of the moral issues that Israel faces in its war on terrorism. I have spent many hours in discussions with soldiers and officers in order to better grasp the dilemmas that they tackle in the field, and in an attempt to help facilitate the internalization of the code of ethics in war. A link to the full essay is: http://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-goldstone-illusion.

Brant, I am sure you could provide us with a link to the Hamas equivalent of the group Harbertal describes. It should be an interesting read.

]]> By: ls http://rabbibrant.com/2009/11/13/my-hr-867-postmortem/#comment-5622 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:34:12 +0000 http://rabbibrant.com/?p=5061#comment-5622 Brant -

A respectful question in pursuit of clarification – in the suggested text for the second letter, you write:

I believe the Goldstone Report raised troubling about Israel (and Hamas’) wartime behavior during in Gaza.

how did you decide to place “and Hamas’” in parentheses? this may seem like a small point, but I find it rich in implication and emblematic of aspects about *how* – not *what* – you think that I do not understand.

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