A number of important Gaza/Goldstone related articles came up today. It's easier to address them together in one blog post.
1. Asa Kasher takes an excellent, in-depth look at the moral issues of the Gaza war. He has a knack for taking broad issues of war ethics and coherently organizing them — without losing important details.
Kasher first came to my radar with this article in Azure on international law and Operation Cast Lead.
2. Jonathan Dahohah Halevi analyzes the Hamas response to the Goldstone report. In a nutshell, In a nutshell, the Hamas position that the entire Holy Land — from the Jordan to the Mediterranean — is the basis for legitimizing thousands of rockets at Israeli communities over the years.
3. Robin Shepherd debunks The Independent's so-called "expose" and related staff editorial.
Donald Macintyre reported that the IDF "rewrote the rules of war for Gaza" based on one anonymous officer in a Yediot story — which for reasons unclear, was never published. The Indy then opines that Israel should learn from the Kahan commission that investigated the Sabra and Shatilla massacre. Shepherd writes
However, it has long been a staple of anti-Israeli demonisation to attach full and direct blame for what took place to the Israeli military giving the impression that it was Israel that either did the killing or coordinated it.
This is precisely the game that the Independent is playing. As its editorial team knows all too well, only the smallest minority of readers will know the full details of what took place at Shabra and Shatila. The rest of the readership is left with the clear impression that Israel conducted a terrible massacre in 1982 just as it conducted a terrible massacre during Operation Cast Lead last year.
4. The Jewish Chronicle got itself a nice scoop: Tzipi Livni plans to visit the UK in several weeks "to test the process for the issuing of arrest warrants for alleged war crimes." Sounds like a media circus waiting to happen.
