Editorial (September 18, 2009)
Danger: minefield ahead
THE Goldstone Commission Report on Gaza, released on Tuesday, has the potential of being a minefield for Israel. The report is the latest in a parade of critical reports on Israel initiated by the United Nations (UN).
The boilerplate argument that the report should not be taken seriously because the UN has a historic bias against Israel — a charge that is not unfounded — will not be enough to counter this particular report, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, Justice Richard Goldstone, in accepting the UN’s request to lead the inquest, lent credibility to the process that it would not otherwise have had. A highly regarded figure on the international human rights scene with experience in the prosecution of war crimes, Goldstone commands respect.
Goldstone’s presence also deflects criticism for the report by the fact that he is Jewish and has had a good relationship with Israel in the past.
Secondly, the United States has now joined the Human Rights Council (HRC), which commissioned the report. No longer can the HRC be so easily dismissed as a biased and hypocritical fringe body -— not when US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have bestowed upon it tacit legitimacy through US participation.
Israel made a decision not to cooperate with the Goldstone inquiry, on the basis that the probe was conceived in bias -— launched upon the assumption that Israel had committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead.
Would it have made any difference had Israel cooperated? Probably not. The instances of “war crimes” cited in the report were apparently all known allegations, raised previously by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which Israel had either refuted or were already in the process of independently investigating for prosecution by Israeli courts.
It would be tempting for Israel, given its belief and contention that the report is a sham, to simply criticise its findings, hunker down over the high holy days and pray for the storm to pass -— ideally with American support. The US, after all, has defended Israel from vicious attack in the UN many times before.
It would, however, be a mistake. The Israeli government must keep its emotions in check and take this report very seriously -— refute what it can refute, and continue to work towards vigorously prosecuting the rest. The consequences of misplaying its hand on this would be grave.
Reflections on the past year
MOST Australian Jews will be attending synagogue over the coming weekend to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish year 5770.
In the spirit of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Dovid Freilich, president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, the Orthodox rabbinical roof body, has issued a message weighing up how we weathered 5769. There were some great moments, he reflected, but we could have done better.
To this we add, that if we want to examine our weakest links, unfortunately, we do not have to look far.
Too many times in 5769, it was The AJN‘s solemn duty as a newspaper to report on the shortcomings of individuals. Former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld will spend his first high holy days in prison, as he endures a three-year jail sentence for perjury.
In Adelaide, almost three years of internal dissension and now criminal charges against Rabbi Yossi Engel and his wife Chana have cast a pall over the tiny Jewish community. Fortunately, there are already great signs of healing.
It was a year of sadness in other respects too. The community lost two philanthropic giants -— cardboard king and communal benefactor Richard Pratt, and industrial icon Victor Smorgon.
But the year 5769 also saw the Jewish community live up to its true potential in a number of ways. Perhaps the standout moment was the aftermath of the horrific Victorian bushfires, when we dug deep, with massive donations from groups and individuals.
It was also a year in which we took a landmark heshbon, or accounting, of ourselves in the Jewish Population Survey, perhaps fittingly released in the weeks before Rosh Hashanah, traditionally a time to take stock.
One finding of the study was that Russian-born Jews, as a group, are having a more difficult time integrating into Australian Jewish life than any other -— so perhaps one New Year resolution is to become more considerate of newcomers, who are perhaps not equipped with the resources that many in our community take for granted as our birthright.
As the year draws to a close, the publisher and staff of The AJN would like to wish all our readers and the community a healthy, happy and sweet new year. Shanah tovah u’metukah.
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