Ta’anit Tzedek convened an conference call last night between Judge Richard Goldstone and 150 American rabbis. I’m still sorting through this remarkable, inspiring experience but what I’m mostly left with is this: the world owes Judge Goldstone an enormous debt of gratitude for his commitment to humanitarian ideals and much of the Jewish world owes him a huge apology for the egregious way he has been assailed for his efforts.
A full audio file of the call can be found on the Ta’anit Tzedek website. Kudos to the Velveteen Rabbi, who has already transcribed major portions of the conversation. The JTA has reported on the call today as well.
A full written transcript will be up on the Ta’anit Tzedek website this Thursday. It deserves to be read as widely as possible. Beyond its value as a new item, it provides us all with a profound, resolutely moral statement of purpose.
Please read it.
Shalom Rav 
Thank you, Brant, for sharing about the conference call. It is so refreshing that you are dedicated to the truth, however painful it is.
HONEST REPORTING gives another view of the Goldstone Report. What do you think?
Ruth and Larry
R&L:
Honest Reporting is a partisan Israel defense organization. Despite it’s objective-sounding name, its essential agenda is the support of Israel in the marketplace of public opinion. (If you read their report carefully, you’ll notice they spent almost of their efforts criticizing the UNHRC and bashing Goldstone and almost none discussing the actual content of the report itself.)
The Goldstone Report is the product of a human rights investigation. It’s expressed mission was to get at the truth of what occurred in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead and specifically, to determine if any war crimes had occurred. Are there problems with the report? Undoubtedly. If you listen to Goldstone on the conference call, he openly discusses the challenges of conducting these sorts of fact finding investigations. Does the UNHRC have a history of undue attention on Israel? Certainly. But as Goldstone made clear on the call, he did not agree to chair the mission until it the Council agreed that they would be able to investigate possible Palestinian war crimes as well. This was the first time the HRC had made such an effort.
The bottom line? For all of its shortcomings, the G’stone report represents a good faith effort at determining the truth while “Honest Reporting” is guided only by a desire to defend Israel against any and all criticism.
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