Self-defense? Jacques Attali on the Goldstone report

"This report is also very revealing of the changing attitude of some international institutions with respect to Israel, who now want to deny Israel the right to self- defense: according to the International committee of the Red Cross, in charge of the laws of war, this right, recognized however by article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, could not be applied against terrorists who it would be necessary to arrest and to judge as common law criminals, and not fight as enemies."

Source: "Conversation avec Jacques Attali" blog

The report of a commission chaired by a respected South African judge, Richard Goldstone, arrived at the conclusion that "by launching, in some cases, attacks against civilians without military objectives" (during the Israeli military operation in Gaza in December-January) the Israeli armed forces have committed "acts comparable to war crimes and maybe by certain aspects to crimes against humanity." Terrible accusation, and if the report acknowledges that the Israeli army made " significant efforts to warn the civilians before attacks", it blames them for having been ineffective and it urges Israel to conduct an independent and honest national investigation within 6 months, failing to do so will have the Israeli officers sent back by the Security Council to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The report rightly points out that there was in this battle, scandalous blurs on the part of the Palestinians and the Israelis (who opened fire at civilians and on their own soldiers and used phosphorous shells), but it is also full of errors, revealing a fundamental question for democracies.

Written at the request of a UN Human Rights Committee, where dictatorships dominate, it repeatedly refers to Israel as "the enemy" and it does not recall that the Hebrew state has withdrawn unilaterally; it does not say that Tsahal, before answering, had received 12,000 rockets fired from Gaza; it does not mention the testimonial of the inhabitants of Sderot, constantly bombarded, though questioned by the committee, but quotes at length the testimonials of Gazans all heard during televised broadcasts, that is to say in an atmosphere of terror, which leads them to deny that Hamas forced civilians to serve as human shields, which is what the leaders of this movement boasted about.

Moreover, the report dares to say, without fear of ridicule, that in Israel, the only democracy in the region, exists "a repression of dissent", demonstrating an incredible ignorance of the reality of a country where a Minister of defense and a Prime Minister have been forced to resign by a march of more than one tenth of the population of the country (can we imagine a march of more than six million French people?). And Israel will surely confirm it by appointing a Committee of independent inquiry which will sanction, once more, those who have made errors, or maybe even crimes in the conduct of these operations.

But this report is also very revealing of the changing attitude of some international institutions with respect to Israel, who now want to deny Israel the right to self- defense: according to the International committee of the Red Cross, in charge of the laws of war, this right, recognized however by article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, could not be applied against terrorists who it would be necessary to arrest and to judge as common law criminals, and not fight as enemies.

The other democracies should be wary: If they let Israel be treated that way, they will be the next victims of this jurisprudence, because it will be required also from them what cannot obviously be demanded from their opponents.

Amnesty International: 15 statements supporting Goldstone mission and report

More of the same anti-Israel bias from European NGO Amnesty International

Amnesty International’s Goldstone Campaign, with a review of statements from other NGOs, NGO Monitor

* Amnesty International has issued 15 statements in support of the Goldstone Mission and its report since April 2009.

* All four members of the commission and one of its staff researchers have conflicts of interest involving Amnesty. The close ties with the organization led to numerous citations to Amnesty publications.
* At a May 2009 NGO townhall meeting with Goldstone, Amnesty presented a detailed outline for the investigation. Their recommendations correspond to the framework of the public hearings and the final report.

* Diakonia, Oxfam, Trocaire, Amnesty-Europe, FIDH and Palestinian NGOs - Adalah, PCHR, Al Haq, etc. - have used the Goldstone report to bolster their calls for “war crimes” cases. This lawfare includes international (ICC) and universal jurisdiction forums.

* B’Tselem condemned the Israeli government for not cooperating with the Goldstone mission and “provided assistance to the investigative staff….”

* But even B’Tselem criticized Goldstone for falsely “framing of Israel’s military operation as part of ‘an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population for its resilience.’”

Note: This report is a follow-up to NGO Monitor’s publication: Human Rights Watch: Selling Goldstone’s Indictment, October 15, 2009

Full report HERE

Germany: Henryk M. Broder next Central Council of Jews President ?

Source: article by Benjamin Weinthal in The Jerusalem Post

The German Jewish author and journalist Henryk M. Broder's announcement last week that he plans to run for the presidency of the 120,000-member Central Council of Jews has riveted German society, provoking a nationwide media debate about the political direction of the council.

Broder cited among the reasons for his candidacy that Germany takes quite casually "what Iran's President Ahmadinejad might intend for Israel."

He added, "Our problem is not the last Holocaust, the truth of which is not in question, but the genocide taking place before our eyes in Sudan. We don't need more Holocaust memorials, but an active policy in the service of human rights, without political consideration of economic interests."

"He throws his kippa in the ring" was the headline of Broder's article last week in the daily Der Tagesspiegel, in which he argued for a radical shift away from a "fixation on the past" and issued unusually sharp criticism of the central council's leadership. Broder, who writes for Der Spiegel and enjoys celebrity status because of his best-selling book about Europe's capitulation to political Islam and witty commentaries dissecting German society, said the central council finds itself in a "pitiful condition."


He called the present leader of the council, Charlotte Knobloch, "overwhelmed" and "unfit" for the role of president. Broder cited Knobloch's reaction to go on vacation instead of promptly criticizing German President Horst Köhler's decision to award the Federal Cross of Merit,the country's highest honor, to Felicia Langer, an "anti-Semite" and hater of Israel. He also lampooned Knobloch's refusal to attend a Shoah remembrance event in the Bundestag because she was not seated in the first row. Broder's outlined his principal criticism as "the central council acts as a remorse-receiving body and issues certificates of respectability, about which it has no inhibitions in any direction."

Knobloch told the Münchner Merkur newspaper that "criticism is good, but it should be constructive and not serve self-interest... In contrast to all previous central council presidents, Broder has no experience working in the community."

The prominent historian Michael Wolffsohn, who recently served along with Knobloch on the executive committee of the Munich Jewish community, resigned his post and said, Broder's "criticism is based on facts." Wolffsohn told NDR Info radio, "Ms. Knobloch is visibly not visible and rarely argues intellectually. And that is, of course, in a situation in which German Jewry needs a intellectual orientation, and that is more necessary than ever."

Broder has received a respectable wave of endorsements. He has secured the support of two local Jewish communities for his candidacy, and Lala Süsskind, head of the largest regional community, the 12,000-member Berlin Jewish community, welcomed Broder's campaign. "That is an exciting thing. Broder is a very pleasant conversation partner. He is smart and amusing," Süsskind said.

However, Michel Friedman, a television talk show host and a former vice president of the central council, expressed doubt that Broder has the necessary diplomatic skills for the presidency. Reached on his mobile telephone in the Netherlands, Broder told The Jerusalem Post that he definitively plans to campaign for head of the council.

One of the more controversial aspects of Broder's platform is to abolish the section of German law that outlaws the denial of the Holocaust. He argues that while the law initially had good intentions, it now simply advances the martyr status of a few crackpots such as David Irving and neo-Nazi Horst Mahler, who deny the Holocaust. Broder is a one of a handful of intellectuals in Germany who has drawn attention to the genocidal threats facing the Baha'is in Iran, whom the Iranian regime has systematically targeted.

He also cited the German society's neglect of the Baha'is as an additional reason for tossing his kippa into the ring.

Wiesenthal Centre to Norwegian PM : "Condemn University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Its Rector Torbjorn Digernes"

"Condemn Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Its Rector for Campaign to Disestablish Jewish Self-Determination"

Paris, 26 October 2009

In a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, deplored "a new stage in Norwegian incitement to Jew-hatred, the outrageously anti-Israel bigotry of the Middle East seminar at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim."

Samuels continued, "The virus of antisemitism in Norway's media, unions, NGOs and even government circles is now infecting academia. NTNU has deformed free and open scholarly discourse based upon mutual respect into a campaign of hate propaganda, led by masters of disinformation who exploit their academic credentials to call for boycott of their colleagues who happen to be Israeli. Most disturbing is the role of NTNU's Rector, Torbjorn Digernes, who has declared his support for this campaign."

The letter noted that, "as membership of the NTNU Student Union (SIT) is obligatory, any classroom dissident is repressed. Never since Quisling has there been such academic prejudice in Norway, and never since Hitler has any University Rector in Europe granted it his personal blessing."

Samuels pointed to Norway's "obligations, as a State Party to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to combat all forms of antisemitism under the Berlin Declaration of 2004 – a document which includes the singling out of Israel as a contributing factor to the scourge of Jew-hatred."

He added, "It is ironic that, as a democracy and a major donor country to the United Nations and other international programmes, Norway persistently takes positions regarding Israel – a fellow democracy - that harm every hope for peace in the Middle East and alienate world Jewish opinion."

The Centre urged the Prime Minister "to investigate the growing epidemic of antisemitism in your country, and to begin root canal treatment with a condemnation of the Rector of NTNU and its campaign to disestablish Jewish self-determination."

The letter was shared with Ms Marit Arnstad, both in her capacity as Chair of the NTNU Board and as Deputy Chair of StatoilHydro; Prof Juan Ramon de la Fuente, President of the UNESCO-affiliated International Association of Universities (IAU); and OSCE Secretary-General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre is an international Jewish human rights organization with a worldwide membership of 440,000. Established in 1977, with headquarters in Los Angeles, it draws the lessons of the Holocaust to the analysis of contemporary issues of prejudice and discrimination. The Centre is an NGO in consultative status to the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Organization of American States and the Council of Europe.
For further information, please contact Dr Shimon Samuels at +33.609.7701.58

- Letter to VG: Will NTNU boycott Israel?
- Norway has decided to teach Israel a lesson
- Norwegian scholars call for Israel boycott
- NTNU students protest biased seminars
- NTNU rector Torbjørn Digernes: "Seminar series is praiseworthy initiative"
- SPME: NORWEGIAN ACADEMICS CALL FOR ISRAEL BOYCOTT
- Ilan Pappé dismisses Digernes’ objectivity-defense:"We are all political"
- Stephen Walt recommended by Bin Laden, speaks at NTNU
- Criticism builds against unbalanced NTNU seminars
- NTNU student to dean: "We will not give in"
- Israeli weekly on NTNU
- Dignernes’ blog down after SPME article
- NTNU: A NORWEGIAN HATE UNIVERSITY
- Morten Levin and the serpent’s egg
- Why should Digernes resign ?

Javier Solana: Israel a member of the EU without being a member of the institutions

"Israel is, allow me to say, a member of the European Union without being a member of the institutions. It’s a member of all the EU programs, including the research and technology programs."

JERUSALEM (EJP)---EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Israel has a closer relationship with the European Union than EU candidate country Croatia. "Israel is closer to the European Union than any other country in the world outside Europe", he told the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem last week.

Solana pointed to the "deep and close" cultural, historical and trade ties and active participation in all its programmes. "Israel is, allow me to say, a member of the European Union without being a member of the institutions. It’s a member of all the EU programs, including the research and technology programs", he said.

Croatia is candidate to EU and could join the union in 2012. "I don't see the president of Croatia here," Solana said, looking out over the audience. "Don't tell him that," Solana added.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesic was also attending the conference in Jerusalem as part of a visit to Israel.

François Houtart, a Belgian anti-Zionist priest, awarded UNESCO prize for tolerance and non-violence

François Houtart, a Belgian priest and professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, has been awarded (shared) the 2009 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence. The announcement reads (excerpts):

"François Houtart (Belgium) for his life-long commitment to world peace, intercultural dialogue, human rights and the promotion of tolerance, and in recognition of his outstanding efforts to advance the cause of social justice in the world.

Mr Houtart is an ardent promoter of North-South cooperation and the founder of the Tri-Continental Centre (CETRI), a non-governmental organization renowned for its work on development issues and in the International Council of the World Social Forum. Known throughout his life as a defender of human rights, he has contributed significantly to the advancement of the inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue. As a noted sociologist of religions and theology, he has authored numerous publications and given lectures in over 100 universities around the world. An honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of Vietnam and Cuba and a member of the Commission on Struggle against Racism of the Ecumenical Council of the Churches, he has served as President of the Committee for Human Rights in Burundi (1986-1992); founder and director of the international review "Social Compass" (1960-1990); and President of the International League for People’s Rights (2003-2008)."

What the announcement leaves out is that François Houtart is a staunch anti-Israeli/US militant :

* he signed an appeal launched by Nadine Rosa-Rosso to all candidates for the 736 seats in the European parliament to remove Hamas from the EU terror list (International List Of Hamas Supporters Published, Harry's Place);

* he is a member of the Russell Tribunal for Palestine, concocted by another Belgian, Pierre Galand (Brussels: Launching of the "Russell Tribunal" on Palestine) the third such mock tribunal cooked up in Belgium ...;

* he is the chairman of the BRussells Tribunal - Peple vs Total War, that is co-chaired by Jean Bricmont, professor at the Catholic University of Louvain. Pierre Klein, professor at the Free University of Brussels is the secretary; and

* he is a member of the "People's Court" in which "individuals of concience" tried Israel for "crimes committed by the Israeli army in Lebanon during the summer 2006 [which] are a violent affront to the universal human conscience"(Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges and Lebanon war mock tribunal condemns Israel and U.S.).

[1] On the Centre Tricontinental (CETRI), one can find : 17 articles on Palestine, 0 article on Burundi (in spite of the fact that, according to the statement, the UNESCO prize was awarded for the priest's commitment to the advancement of human rights in Burundi), 3 articles on the Congo, 0 article on Soudan, 9 articles on Sri Lanka etc. It's strange the little attention Burundi, the Congo et Rwanda receive because they were Belgian colonies, and there is a mutually strong link between citizens of these countries and Belgium.

We had a look at the sources of the articles posted on the CETRI blog and we were not disappointed: Electronic Intifada, Le Monde Diplomatique, Counterpunch (surprise surprise Counterpunch ), Palestine Monitor, etc.


- Jean Bricmont and The De-Zionization of the American Mind - The anti-US ravings of an arrogant man

- Special Report: "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU"

Donald Bostrom, Swedish Blood Libel Journalist Plans Visit to Israel

"Despite the blood libel, the National Federation of Algerian Journalists presented him with an award for excellence. Bostrom, in his acceptance speech, charged that 1,000 Arabs were victims of organ harvesting since 1960."

Source: article by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu in INN

A nationalist group has appealed to Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) to prevent the entry of Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom, who spread the blood libel alleging that IDF soldiers sold organs of Arab terrorists. Bostrom published his allegations in August and is planning to arrive in Israel next month for the Dimona Conference in the Negev.

Im Tirtzu (If You Wish) wrote to the minister, "Everyone understands the difference between his poisonous anti-Semitic articles and freedom of expression" and knows that his articles "are a modern blood libel that recall the same form of anti-Semitism in Europe in the Middle Ages. Anyone who thinks this is freedom of expression should return to school learn history." The group asked Yishai "to take all possible measures to prevent this journalist... from stepping foot on the Land of Israel."

Last week, a media watchdog official wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Bostrom’s allegations "are ugly, false, and harmful to peace efforts." Andrea Levin, executive director of CAMERA, (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), that Bostrom’s article in Aftonbladet, Sweden’s leading daily, "has quickly metastasized to mainstream Muslim media, spawning cartoons of Jews stealing body parts and drinking Arab blood. These have been published in Syria, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, to name a few."

Last month, an Algerian newspaper claimed that gangs directed by Jews round up and smuggle Algerian children into Israel, where they sell their organs. Iranian Press TV reported, "An international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap children and harvest their organs is gathering momentum."

Levin noted that despite the blood libel, the National Federation of Algerian Journalists presented him with an award for excellence. Bostrom, in his acceptance speech, charged that 1,000 Arabs were victims of organ harvesting since 1960.

After Israeli officials and media harshly condemned the report by Bostrom, who admitted that his report was unconfirmed and based on unsubstantiated claims by Arabs in Judea and Samaria, Aftonbladet stated there was no evidence of the charges but still demanded an international inquiry.

However, Levin wrote, "Francis Delmonico, a Harvard surgeon and international transplant specialist who was quoted in the Aftonbladet article on the issue of organ theft in general, told me he found the Aftonbladet charges completely inconsistent with his extensive interaction with Israeli doctors…. Like many others, Dr. Delmonico noted that Mr. Bostrom's scenario in which Ghanem [an Arab] was supposedly shot before having his organs removed for trafficking was ‘not feasible from a surgical vantage.’" Ghanem’s family refuted several "facts" that Bostrom wrote in his original accusations.

- Anatomy of a Swedish Blood Libel - Allegations of Israeli organ theft are ugly, false, harmful—and they spread, Andrea Levin, WSJ