Stones of gold, feet of clay

Soccer Dad
01 November '10

Recently, reports appearing the media contradicted assertions made by the Goldstone report. These go to the beliefs promoted by Judge Goldstone and his confederates that Israel's restrictions imposed on Gaza constitute collective punishment, that Israel did not take adequate care to avoid civilians casuatties and members of the Hamas police force should not automatically be considered terrorists.

From the executive summary of the Goldstone report:

The Mission is concerned by declarations made by various Israeli officials who have indicated the intention of maintaining the blockade of the Gaza Strip until the release of Gilad Shalit. The Mission is of the opinion that this would constitute collective punishment of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

From Mitchel Prothero's Under the gun in Gaza:

I ask him if that means the human rights situation was better under Israeli occupation that it is today for residents of both the West Bank and Gaza. "Why do you think I ask you not use my name? Yes, 100 percent yes," he said. "At least the occupation had a positive effect of drawing the Palestinian people together instead of dividing them. I now fear that we're seeing a systematic effort by Hamas and its religious backers to enter every component of society."

From Peter Hitchens' Lattes, beach barbecues (and dodging missiles) in the world's biggest prison camp

Can anyone think of a siege in human history, from Syracuse to Leningrad, where the shops of the besieged city have been full of Snickers bars and Chinese motorbikes, and where European Union and other foreign aid projects pour streams of cash (often yours) into the pockets of thousands? Once again, the word conceals more than it reveals. In Gaza's trapped, unequal society, a wealthy and influential few live in magnificent villas with sea views and their own generators to escape the endless power cuts. Gaza also possesses a reasonably well-off middle class, who spend their cash in a shopping mall - sited in Treasure Street in Gaza City, round the corner from another street that is almost entirely given over to shops displaying washing machines and refrigerators. Siege? Not exactly. What about Gaza's 'refugee camps'. The expression is misleading. Most of those who live in them are not refugees, but the children and grandchildren of those who fled Israel in the war of 1948. All the other refugees from that era - in India and Pakistan, the Germans driven from Poland and the Czech lands, not to mention the Jews expelled from the Arab world - were long ago resettled.

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