NJDC backs House Goldstone resolution

Capital J

By Eric Fingerhut · November 3, 2009

As Congress prepares to vote on a resolution condemning the Goldstone Report today, the National Jewish Democratic Council has become the latest Jewish organization to say they back the legislation. AIPAC and many other major Jewish groups are for it, while only Americans for Peace Now and J Street have said they do not support it.

The Obama administration has made it abundantly and repeatedly clear that they stand with Israel against the distorted Goldstone Commission report," said NJDC CEO Ira Forman in a statement. "And as this legislation correctly asserts, the report is indeed 'irredeemably biased.' We concur with the findings of the Ros-Lehtinen/Berman resolution that this report is deeply flawed, and that the U.S. government should do all in its power to stop this report in its tracks at the U.N., lest it be used to undermine Israel's fundamental right to self-defense in the future."

Here's the NJDC's full statement:

Today the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) called upon Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the Ros-Lehtinen/Berman resolution (H. Res. 867) which encourages the administration of President Barack Obama to oppose any endorsement of the Goldstone Commission report by the United Nations. The full statement of Ira N. Forman, CEO of NJDC, follows:

The Obama administration has made it abundantly and repeatedly clear that they stand with Israel against the distorted Goldstone Commission report. And as this legislation correctly asserts, the report is indeed "irredeemably biased." We concur with the findings of the Ros-Lehtinen/Berman resolution that this report is deeply flawed, and that the U.S. government should do all in its power to stop this report in its tracks at the U.N., lest it be used to undermine Israel's fundamental right to self-defense in the future.

NJDC is mindful that the Gaza incursion, like all military conflicts in urban areas, was accompanied by tragic loss of civilian life. There is a great deal of evidence that indicates that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) made extraordinary efforts to protect civilian life in
the conflict. Moreover, those who call for investigations of "war crimes" should be mindful of Israel's extraordinary record of investigation into allegations of military misconduct and to the extreme likelihood that the Hamas regime in Gaza would never undertake any credible investigation of its own misconduct.

This resolution deserves to be supported by Democrats, and indeed by all members of Congress. NJDC encourages a "yes" vote.