I know I said I wouldn't be writing for a while, but this article pissed me off and I wanted a distraction from work.
The grandson of Judge Richard Goldstone - who wrote the Goldstone report on the recent Gaza conflict - is due to have his Bar Mitzvah soon. A Bar Mitzvah is meant to be a happy family event, but this one has become a political event, hijacked by the South-African Zionist Federation (SAZF).
According to reports cited in the article, the SAZF reached an agreement with the synagogue in which the Bar Mitzvah is due to take place whereby Goldsone would be banned from attending the Bar Mitzvah. The Rosh Bet Din (head of the religious court) in South Africa, Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag, was reported as saying he had heard the SAZF had also made plans to organize a protest at the shul to stop Goldstone from attending.
Clearly, the SAZF and many others feel that Goldstone delegitimized Israel. But to attack him by spoiling his grandson's Bar-Mitzvah is a disgrace. Politics and Bar-Mitzvahs just shouldn't mix - if you feel the same, why not tell the SAZF yourself: sazf@beyachad.co.za
I believe that it is a simple case of synagogue goers not wishing to spoil their enjoyment of attending the synagogue in the presence of this hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteI can’t say that I blame them.
I just read that as a judge during apartheid era in South Africa, Goldstone has sentenced a number of blacks to death by hanging, for offences that he himself admits that if they were white, they would have only got prison sentences. Goldstone’s excuse is that “it was the law at the time”. Somehow sound so very similar to “I have only followed orders”.
ReplyDeleteA thoroughly moral man that is surely motivated by justice.
Tooly - can you provide a link please?
ReplyDeleteSure Edge.
ReplyDeleteSorry, it is in Hebrew but you could get Google to translate, if you need.
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3886605,00.html
How I love saying I told you so.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reconsidering-the-goldstone-report-on-israel-and-war-crimes/2011/04/01/AFg111JC_story.html
What a pity we had to suffer from his damage first.