It is said that the UN investigation was set up on the premise Israel was guilty. Melanie Phillips calls it a show trial. Mark Regev says it was a kangaroo court. Members of the commission had already publicly declared their positions before the event.
The record of Human Rights Watch and their employee Nazi memorabilia collector Marc Garlasco illustrate the dangers of treating such organisations and figures as infallible or beyond reproach, which the BBC tends to do.
Both BBC articles mention that criticisms of Hamas were also made, but the captions and images lead the reader to conclude that the war crimes were all Israel’s.
Judge Goldstone requires the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority to set up more investigations, but on Channel 4 news he has just accused Israel of bias in theirs.
So if neither side can rely on the impartiality of the other, where does that leave us?
“HonestReporting will be releasing responses to the Goldstone Report within the next 24 hours. Stay tuned and be prepared to react to what will undoubtedly be a major story in your media.”
We are unlikely to hear much in Israel’s defence from the BBC, of that we can be sure.