Considering what we all already know about the UN, the theatre of dictators and mouth piece of human rights abusers, it really should come as no surprise to learn that the man the UN mandated to head its fact finding mission into allegations of war crimes in Gaza is himself responsible for sentencing tens of blacks to death in Apartheid South Africa. Indeed Goldstone actively upheld the Apartheid regime’s race laws and shored up the system by sentencing several blacks to beatings. What moral standpoint does this man have to so much as lecture an ASBO teenager let alone pass judgement on a nation trying to defend itself against deadly terrorist attacks?
And what does Goldstone have to say in his own defence? Well predictably he claims he was merely part of a system and had to uphold laws even if he was actually opposed to them. Now I don’t know about you but that all sounds strangely familiar, the language of those washing their hands of moral responsibility that we’ve heard elsewhere. The analogy may be crude, even offensive but not unworthy of note I think. The last time I heard people talking this way about their role in executing people in a racist regime it was amidst the woefully inadequate and pathetic excuses of German concentration camp guards. To my ears at least that is what Goldstone’s claims sound like.
The fact that Goldstone not only took part in such reprehensible acts but now also attempts to dismiss them with talk of simply acting on orders from above must surely call into question just about any credibility he was ever considered to have had. This doesn’t sound like a man with a grasp on even the most basic moral principles. If the Goldstone report hasn’t already been entirely discredited this surely must only cast further doubt on the validity and legitimacy of the whole project.
And what does Goldstone have to say in his own defence? Well predictably he claims he was merely part of a system and had to uphold laws even if he was actually opposed to them. Now I don’t know about you but that all sounds strangely familiar, the language of those washing their hands of moral responsibility that we’ve heard elsewhere. The analogy may be crude, even offensive but not unworthy of note I think. The last time I heard people talking this way about their role in executing people in a racist regime it was amidst the woefully inadequate and pathetic excuses of German concentration camp guards. To my ears at least that is what Goldstone’s claims sound like.
The fact that Goldstone not only took part in such reprehensible acts but now also attempts to dismiss them with talk of simply acting on orders from above must surely call into question just about any credibility he was ever considered to have had. This doesn’t sound like a man with a grasp on even the most basic moral principles. If the Goldstone report hasn’t already been entirely discredited this surely must only cast further doubt on the validity and legitimacy of the whole project.
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