Letters, April 8, 2011
Goldstone article does not redeem him
WERE I not Jewish, I would be no less fearful for the West, that so many of its media now knowingly spin and peddle lies and inversions. They favour protagonists who, making no concessions, will commit any evil. The once reliable BBC no longer cherishes its own guidelines, so is losing credibility, status and trust. To what end will all these distortions lead?
Then along comes Justice Richard Goldstone who apes the media, choosing flawed evidence; making an untrue but damning report to a UN Commission that has Groucho Gaddafi, a paragon of human rights, and his ilk as members. No wonder that the notorious jurist now backtracks after demeaning his bench. He now owes it to international law, even more than to Israel, to undo his major sin; to neutralise the ill-effects of his Goldstone Commission Report. From now on, to redeem his name, he should devote his life to that corrective purpose.
Goldstone apology is too little, too late
JUSTICE Richard Goldstone says “had I known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document”.
Last weekend’s apologia in The Washington Post from the author of the report, used in media outlets during the last two years to vilify Israel, is breathtakingly pathetic.
While he attempts to salvage his reputation and belatedly correct the injustice of his report, he well knows that there was much criticism of the methodology at the time of its release, rendering it meaningless.
Despite this, he continued to maintain that it was the authoritative word on Operation Cast Lead.
For a man of such learning and experience this remains unacceptable.
Now we can add another in the long line of libels against Israel. The Jenin “massacre”, the “murder” of Muhammad al Dura, Sharon’s visit to the Temple mount as triggering the Second Intifada, the flotilla incident; all subject of a frenzy of media accusations against Israel, only to pass without a whimper when proven false.
Common sense prevailed at Marrickville election
IT is with wry irony that Labor candidate Carmel Tebbutt finally won the seat of Marrickville at last Saturday’s State Election.
The Liberal candidate had a good chance to come close to winning the seat. However, it was maybe just as well that Labor retook Marrickville against the Greens Mayor who endorsed the BDS campaign.
The general outcry against the propaganda for the Israel boycott was overwhelming by the general community.
The moral of the story is when any local government is involved in political power play or tries to instil hatred against any outside territories rather than look after the interest of their people in the council area, the people will raise their voice and in opportune time will vote with their feet.
And that was one of the reason why the Green Party lost its foothold in Marrickville.
Greens must root out anti-Israel element
IT’S about time Bob Brown did something about Lee Rhiannon. Perhaps he learned how popular the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign really is. Indeed, Fiona Byrne championed the benefits of boycotting Israel – and promptly lost the election.
Speaking up for Israel as one people
I APPLAUD Miss Ellina Lewis for her letter “Shameful silence in face of atrocity” (AJN 01/04).
Where are our community leaders? I have not heard a word from them regarding the shameful silence of the media about the horrible murder in Itamar. We expected loud criticism from on that event.
On the same page in the paper, there was an item about Rabbi Shlomo Goren who said he would never engage in a dialogue with the Reform movement.
It is strange that Palestinians and Jews are talking to each other, and yet one Jew would not tolerate another.
Is that Judaism? Judaism means tolerance. Kulanu Yehudim (We are all Jewish). Israel needs every kind of a Jew. It is the numbers that are important for Israel and the fight for its existence.
Besides, religion did not do much for us during the Holocaust.
The desperate cries of “Shema Yisrael” fell on deaf ears and perished in the ovens together with those who said them.
Why does the world not condemn attacks?
DURING the recent string of terror attacks on Israeli citizens, it appears that the media have failed to recognise the severity of each incident. The surge in terrorist activity began almost three weeks ago with the gruesome murder of a family in Itamar. Days later, almost 70 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into major cities in Israel, such as Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be’er Sheva. The latest attack occurred two weeks ago when a bus was blown up outside the central bus station in Jerusalem. However, despite these shocking attacks, international outcry has been weak. A Facebook page was set up asking for Palestinians to begin a third intifada and the world seems to be ignoring the fact that not only is Israel under a nuclear threat, but it is now facing the possibility of a war and more suicide bombings.
Israel, through all its torment has provided aid to other countries, the most recent being Japan. However, where are those countries when Israel needs their aid and support? Perhaps it is time to reciprocate.
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