The New York Times has a completely unremarkable account of Tuesday’s proceedings. Apparently neither Dr. Siderer’s testimony nor Cuba’s plea for “freedom of expression” were noteworthy to the Times reporter.
Interestingly neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post have featured an unsigned editorial on the Goldstone commission. However, yesterday the NY Daily News had an excellent editorial on the topic.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner yesterday condemned the report’s claim that the Israeli military intended to terrorize. He attacked Goldstone’s failure to hold Hamas to account for using Palestinian civilians as human shields. And he exposed Goldstone’s outrageously lopsided call on Israel to stop using certain munitions – while saying nothing about Hamas’ indiscriminate firing of rockets.
The council, whose members include Cuba, China and Saudi Arabia, will now consider acting on the report, with many urging referral to the Security Council for prosecution by the International Criminal Court. The U.S. must lead the opposition – and must win.
With the unquestioned support of most of the world(‘s dictatorships), the Goldstone Commission’s report is likely to be passed on to the UN General Assembly. The United States has an obligation to stand by Israel and ensure that no diplomatic harm befalls Israel on its account.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
