Open Shuhada Street (OSS) condemns the barring of Judge Richard Goldstone from attending his grandson's barmitzvah.

Below is an article published today in the SA Jewish Report.

Although Goldstone appears to have agreed not to attend, what choice did he have? He and his family understand clearly that if he attends, his grandson’s barmitzvah will be ruined.

For months Judge Goldstone has been subject to a vicious barrage of character assassination in the Jewish press locally and internationally. One of the apparent prime movers behind preventing him from attending the barmitzvah, SA Zionist Federation (SAZF) chairperson Avrom Krengel, has made no secret of his intentions to push Goldstone out of the Jewish community. At an SAZF meeting in Cape Town on 14 March 2010 he said: "This community with deal with Richard Goldstone."

Recently former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson and his friend George Bizos wrote in defence of Goldstone saying:

“We are concerned about the attacks made on the integrity of Justice Richard Goldstone following the report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza conflict... Some who have criticised him say that as a Jew he ought not to have accepted a mandate to enquire into the events in Gaza. We do not agree. Religion and ethnicity are irrelevant to the capacity to judging with integrity. Others, ask why he has shown no concern about human rights violations that have been and are being committed elsewhere in the world. This was not part of his mandate as head of the fact finding mission. But his career, from the time he was chairman of the Wits SRC campaigning against the exclusion of black students, to the present time, shows a long commitment to the protection of human rights and a concern for their protection in all parts of the world. He is a member of the boards of Physicians for Human Rights, the International Center for Transitional Justice, the Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Center for Economic and Social Rights. He is a Director of the American Arbitration Association. He chairs the advisory boards of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation and the Brandeis University Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life. In April 2004, he was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Independent International Committee, chaired by Paul Volcker, to investigate the Iraq Oil for Food program. He is co-chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association. He chaired a UN Committee to advise the United Nations on appropriate steps to preserve of the archives and legacy of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. From 15 August 1994 to September 1996 he served as the Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, a post he accepted at the request of President Nelson Mandela, who considered it an important affirmation of the post apartheid South African judiciary.”

There is a coordinated effort to target Jews critical of Israel. Jewish members of Open Shuhada Street have been threatened with physical violence. Often, if a Jew criticises Israel, he or she is attacked and demeaned far more severely than a non-Jewish critic of Israel would be. In other words, Jewish critics of Israel are singled out for condemnation and abuse by right-wing Zionist organisations. This is in fact a form of anti-Semitism, as it is a targeting of Jews, as Jews, that goes far beyond the targeting of others with similar views. The barring of Judge Goldstone from his grandson’s barmitzvah is the ugliest and most naked example of this and it should be condemned by all thinking people, including the SA Jewish Board of Deputies.

See the article in the SA Jewish Report below.

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Goldstone ‘barred’ from grandson’s barmitzvah

SA Jewish Report - 16 - 23 April 2010 - Pg 3 (available at http://www.sajewishreport.co.za/pdf/2010/april/16-april-2010.pdf)
 
THE AFTER-SHOCKS of the Goldstone Commission into the Gaza conflict continue, this time reaching into the heart of a family simcha. Mr Justice Richard Goldstone is effectively being barred from attending his grandson’s barmitzvah, due to be held in Johannesburg early next month.

Following negotiations between the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) and the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol in Sandton, where the event is due to take place, an agreement has been reached with the family. As a result, Justice Goldstone will not be attending the synagogue service.

Some of the role-players were tight-lipped. Avrom Krengel, chairman of the SAZF, said: “We understand there’s a barmitzvah boy involved - we’re very sensitive to the issues; at this stage there’s nothing further to say.” While Krengel said the SAZF had “interacted” on the matter with the chief rabbi, the Beth Din and others, his organisation was “coming across most forcefully because we represent Israel”.

Rosh Beth Din Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag confirmed that the Beth Din had not been officially involved - though there had been “private talks” - and had not been asked by the synagogue to give a ruling on the matter. “But I know that there was a very strong feeling in the shul, a lot of anger (around the issue of Justice Goldstone attending).
“I heard also that the SAZF wanted to organise a protest outside the shul - (there were) all kinds of plans. But I think reason prevailed.”

Signalling his agreement with the turn of events, Rabbi Kurtstag said he believed Justice Goldstone had done “a tremendous disservice not only to Israel but to the Jewish world. His name is used by hostile elements in the world against Israel and this can increase anti-Semitic waves.

“I understand that he is a judge, but he should have had the sense to understand that whatever he said wouldn’t be good and he should have just recused himself. People have got feelings about it, they believe he put Israel in danger and they wouldn’t like him to be getting honour (in synagogue).

“I think (the agreement) was quite a sensible thing to avert all this unpleasantness.”

Reached in Washington where he is currently based, Justice Goldstone was reluctant to comment save to say: “In the interests of my grandson, I’ve decided not to attend the ceremony at the synagogue.”

Mr Justice Dennis Davis said that while he respectedJustice Goldstone’s decision, he assumed that pressure had been brought to bear on the family. “If that assumption is correct, then it is outrageous because it seeks to place a ban on somebody participating in his grandson’s barmitzvah.
 
“Have we now got to the point that because we don’t like what somebody says or does, we place a ‘cherem’ on them? What right do we have to do that? I would like to add that people who are gleeful about it must remember what Pastor Niemoller said: ‘Who will speak up for them when they are finally excommunicated for some misdemeanor?’”

Retired president of the Constitutional Court, Mr Justice Arthur Chaskalson said it was “disgraceful” to put pressure on a grandfather not to attend his grandson’s barmitzvah.

“If it is correct that this has the blessing of the leadership of the Jewish community in South Africa, it reflects on them rather than on Justice Goldstone. They should hang their heads in shame.”