Goldstone's belated and shocking vindication of Israel will encourage Israel to commit more crimes against Palestinian civilians, writes Khaled Amayreh In an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week the author of the Goldstone Report on Israel's all-out aggression on the Gaza Strip more than two years ago, argued that if he had known then what he knows now, he would have changed his mind about some of the conclusions contained in the report, particularly those parts accusing Israel of committing war crimes against Palestinian civilians during the 22-day onslaught. As many as 1,400 Palestinians, mostly innocent civilians, including some 333 children, were killed during the war with thousands others injured, some critically. Thousands of buildings, including residential homes, mosques and government facilities, were destroyed in sustained Israeli bombing of the mainly unprotected coastal enclave. "His scandalous vindication of Israel is unethical, affronting and unacceptable. But above all, I am worried that it might encourage and embolden Israel to murder many more Palestinians," said Ghassan Khatib, head of the Government Press Office in Ramallah. "From now on, Israel will understand that whatever crimes its army may commit against innocent civilians, it will never be incriminated." Israeli leaders have jumped out of their skins in celebrating Goldstone's article, which they viewed as a clarion exoneration of the Israeli army of any wrongdoing. The fact that many hundreds of Palestinian civilians were murdered knowingly, if not intentionally, has been conspicuously absent from Israeli officials' comments. Israeli President Shimon Peres, the Noble Peace laureate infamous for his role in the killing of more than 100 Lebanese civilians in Qana in 1996, even felt able to urge Goldstone to apologise to Israel for "besmirching the IDF's image". Treating the Washington Post article as a priceless propaganda gift, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu seemed elated. "Everything we said proved to be true," claimed the Israeli premier in a confident tone. "Israel didn't intentionally target civilians and it has credible investigatory bodies." Defence Minister Ehud Barak, also widely believed to have innocent blood on his hands, went as far as invoking the discredited mantra that the Israeli occupation army was "the most moral army in the world". "We always said the army... acted according to international law," he added. Goldstone's scandalous about-turn was not all that surprising. According to Illan Pappe, professor of political science at Haifa University, it came after more than a year and a half of a sustained campaign of intimidation and character assassination against the South African judge. This sustained campaign by Jewish circles, especially in South Africa, included virtual excommunication from Jewish communities, vilification and demonisation in synagogues around the world and an organised letter writing campaign castigating the international judge for "betraying your people in order to appease Gentiles". Hence, his exoneration of Israel, despite the blood spilt in Gaza, was received with satisfaction in Israel. And Goldstone himself, who was viewed by Israel only last week with contempt has suddenly become a most glowing example of reason and prudence for no other reason than giving credence to the Israeli narrative of its blitzkrieg on the Gaza Strip in 2008/09. It is quite easy to refute Goldstone's opinionated conclusions. His backtracking is based on an Israeli army "investigation" into its own crimes. Goldstone took that investigation at face value, overlooking the obvious fact that the accused must not be allowed to investigate itself. Besides, Israel is known for notoriously lying about its behaviour. Goldstone also took for granted the Israeli claim that Israel didn't kill civilians intentionally. To be sure, mistakes happen in war. However, when victims are as numerous as was the case in Gaza, it is obvious that "mistakes" constituted policy. In the final analysis, killing knowingly is killing deliberately, and even intent becomes irrelevant when the number of victims is as high as in the Gaza Strip. With hundreds of children and other civilians killed and thousands maimed by white phosphorus and other ammunitions used by Israel, and the Dresden-like destruction of property all over the Gaza Strip, Israel can't be given the benefit of the doubt. Indeed, the magnitude of death and havoc inflicted by Israel makes it imperative upon the conscience of humanity to treat Israel at the very least as guilty until proven innocent. There is no doubt that Israeli leaders and apologists will continue to dote upon the Goldstone Report's metamorphosis, as Shimon Peres has been doing in New York. There is also little doubt that Peres's words, however mendacious, will fall on the ears of US officials, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, like music. No wonder Peres told Clinton that her name represented true friendship, even under difficult circumstances.
