The Goldstone Report: A Lesson In Inverse Moral Calculus

The travesty that is the Goldstone Report has made headlines across the globe in recent days. The report accuses Israel of committing war crimes during Operation: Cast Lead this past January. The accusations are broad-based and blatantly one-sided. Thus, some context is needed.

After suffering years of rocket attacks by Hamas from inside the Gaza Strip, Israel decided to launch an offensive to neutralize the terrorist organization's offensive capabilities. Towns and cities in southern Israel lived in perpetual fear. Children going to school continue to suffer from the trauma induced by the warning blare of the missile sirens. It is said that once the sirens go off, people have but fifteen seconds to find cover. This was daily life in Sderot, Ashkelon, and surrounding towns.

Any other nation suffering from this sort of terror would have made the same decision Israel made to defend her citizens. Operation: Cast Lead saw thousands of IDF troops pouring into the Gaza Strip in an effort to neutralize and punish Hamas. Prior to the invasion, Israel dropped some 2 million, I repeat 2 million, leaflets warning civilians to flee the area. In addition to the leaflets, over 100,000 phone calls were made warning civilians to flee or risk being caught up in the crossfire.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former British commander in Afghanistan, stated that the IDF "did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare."

The battle between Israel and Hamas resulted in mass destruction within Gaza. Hamas suffered heavily as did the civilian population. However, as overwhelming evidence and video footage has shown, Hamas deliberately used its own civilians as shields, utilizing elementary schools as weapon depots, elderly homes as booby-trapped death houses, and hospitals as command centers. During Cast Lead, Israel knew that the Hamas leadership was holed up in an underground bunker built beneath Gaza City's primary hospital. They could have taken them out. But the result would have been catastrophic loss of civilian lives.

Despite Hamas' complete disregard for the sanctity of life, Israel chose not to make the strike. The Goldstone Report fails to acknowledge these facts and thereby creates a moral equivocation between Israel and Hamas when there is none.

Did Israel kill civilians during Operation: Cast Lead? Yes. Did Israel target civilians during Operation: Cast Lead? No. There is a stark difference between mistakes and war crimes. If the world cannot make this distinction, particularly the UNHRC which recently endorsed the Goldstone Report, then the depravity of global institutions has reached such a state that they can no longer be considered as worthy of financial and intellectual investment.

The U.N. Human Rights Council voted 25-6 to pass the Goldstone Report and move it to a "higher U.N. body." The breakdown of the vote was as follows:

Voted Against The Resolution:
1. United States
2. Italy
3. Hungary
4. The Netherlands
5. Slovakia
6. Ukraine

Voted In Favor Of The Resolution:
1. China
2. Russia
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Egypt
5. Jordan
6. Pakistan
7. Djibouti
8. Qatar
9. Bahrain
10. Chile
11. Bolivia
12. Argentina
13. Cuba
14. Brazil
15. Nicaragua
16. Bangladesh
17. Ghana
18. India
19. Indonesia
20. Mauritania
21. Nigeria
22. Philippines (<-- This one surprises me)
23. Senegal
24. South Africa
25. Zambia

Abstained:
1. Belgium
2. Bosnia
3. Japan
4. Mexico
5. Norway
6. Slovenia
7. South Korea
8. Uruguay
9. Cameroon
10. Burkina Faso
11. Gabon

Declined to Vote:
1. France
2. Great Britain
3. Kyrgyzstan
4. Madagascar
5. Angola

If presented before another U.N. Body, then there is a distinct chance that other more interesting nations will be able to cast their votes. The thought of Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey (I'm thinking of a word, Turkey, starts with Ar and ends with a menia) accusing the state of Israel of war crimes and being joined by a majority of the West in that accusation would be funny if it wasn't so pathetically plausible.

More to come.