The Goldstone Report - I read it

The Goldstone Report, the UN fact finding mission on the Gaza conflict, centers on the attack that Israel launched against Gaza in the last month of 2008. Israel refused to cooperate with the report, did not answer any requests for information from the mission, then denounced it when it was published as being biased. The United States House of Representatives quickly came up with a resolution, HR867, denouncing the report and asking President Obama (through Hilary Clinton) to disregard it.

The report is 575 pages long, not something I would expect you to read, but I did to find out exactly what was in it. Do you believe that the Representatives in Congress or their aides who rushed to condemn it, read it?

The report is a comprehensive resource covering the period of time from six months prior to the attack on Gaza to six months after it. It presents a thorough background on the foundations for the conflict, examines the evidence given by eyewitnesses and from mission visits to the scenes of events, provides thorough reasoning for what it finds along with the specifics of the international laws that apply. I was very impressed by it.

Far from being a whitewash, both parties to the conflict are held up to examination for what they did and no party comes out clean.

HR867 is, in contrast, a grab-bag of disconnected charges that don't relate to the report as anyone can tell who has read the report. The first name listed as a sponsor for HR867 is Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, who should go under the title of "Israel's Representative in Congress". More on her in my next post.

The denunciation of the Goldstone Report is yet another reminder of the power of the Israel lobby. The report sits unread by virtually everyone and yet is loudly denounced with, yet again, the pledge of the United States standing with Israel. It's only the latest example demonstrating the loss of control of the Congress by an American public that scarcely pauses to notice while a dedicated few ram through what they want.

Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in 2 minutes on YouTube speaks the truth .