Monday, November 2, 2009
Well this is interesting: J Street Adviser Morton Halperin Goes to Work for Goldstone. My apologies to Michael Goldfarb for the full quote, but this one's tough to encapsulate. Looks like J Street and George Soros have been doing Goldstone's homework for him:
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained a document authored by Judge Richard Goldstone that is now being circulated on Capitol Hill. The document was written in response to HR 867 -- the resolution sponsored by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Howard Berman condemning Goldstone's report on Israeli war crimes in Operation Cast Lead. Goldstone explains in the document that he sends his "comments on this resolution in an effort to correct factual errors."
Spencer Ackerman reported today that J Street would oppose the resolution in the House, but J Street chief Jeremy Ben-Ami has also said his organization "refuses to embrace" the Goldstone report. But it seems that certain elements of J Street have indeed embraced Goldstone and his report. Upon further inspection of the Goldstone letter, the actual author seems to be Morton H. Halperin, who serves on the J Street advisory council and is a senior adviser at George Soros's Open Society Institute. The original document can be downloaded here. (A check of the file's "properties" reveals the author as Morton H. Halperin.)
Individuals with official ties to J Street are not just embracing the Goldstone report, they are involved in efforts on behalf of Goldstone himself to scuttle opposition to the report in Congress. It's just another example of the disconnect between J Street's official positions and the actions of those who are connected to the organization.
Speaking of Goldstone, isn't it remarkable how much politicking this guy is doing for someone who was supposed to just be running a fact-finding mission?
Very, very interesting. Elder of Ziyon also comments, here.
[Update: Via Carl, on the substance of the letter, Congressman Howard Berman has a devastating fisking of Goldstone's letter: Berman's Response to Goldstone on House Gaza War-Crimes Resolution]
Meanwhile, J Street Jive has started a post-conference series of posts, beginning with a focus on a presentation given by Haaretz's Akiva Eldar: The J Street Conference You Won't See on J Street's Website.
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, p.30
Debate of the Year: Gold vs. Goldstone
War Crimes in Gaza or UN Crimes Against Israel?
Amb. Dore Gold and Judge Richard Goldstone
will discuss the UN Report on war crimes in Gaza
Brandeis University, Thurs., Nov. 5 at 5 p.m., EST
See live webcast at http://www.brandeis.edu/streaming/index.html