Letters
November 13th 2009
Re: “The moral question” by Andrew Tod (Oct. 29, page 9)
This letter is in response to The moral question, published October 28th 2009.
On the basis of the Goldstone report, Andrew Tod questions the actions of Israel in its right to self-defence. However, the Goldstone report is a hardly a firm foundation upon which to base accusations.
The Goldstone report was commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a council that has repeatedly condemned Israel, yet has failed to condemn Sudan, accused of genocide, even once.
The mandate of the report was “to investigate all violations of international human rights law ... by the occupying Power”; presuming Israel’s guilt even before the fact-finding mission began. Lead democracies, including Canada, were aware of the inherent anti-Israel bias and refused to support the resolution.
The accusations of the report, and of Andrew Tod’s article, are unfounded. Israel makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties. Before commencing operations, Israel dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets and made over 200,000 phone calls to warn Gazans to evacuate buildings where terrorists were hiding. Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, stated that “during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.”
Israel is a “good” country that protects lives on both sides of the conflict. Condemning her based on the tainted product of the UNHRC only furthers the middle-eastern conflict.
This letter appeared in Volume 64, Number 11 of The Uniter, published November 12th 2009.
