Ever plan a party from 5,000 miles away? Shari Alter has!

By Jeanette Friedman
ENGLEWOOD, New Jersey — Shari Alter and her oncologist husband Robert have five kids and live in Englewood. You would think that would keep her busy with no time for so much as a bubble bath or “Oprah” break, since everyone knows, five kids means lots of car-pooling, hockey and assorted craziness. So multi-tasking, including checking the dinner in the oven while being interviewed, is par for the course.

But wait, there’s more. Four years ago, the family wanted her son’s bar mitzvah to take place in Israel. Shari, her mother Judith Kallman and son, Kevin, traveled there to put the beginnings of the party together and met Harvey Tannenbaum, an American-born party and event planner who made aliyah ten years earlier. It took a year to make Kevin’s bar mitzvah happen, and then serendipity took over. There were unintended consequences. Namely, a new career for Shari. In her previous life (read before the kids) she had been an interior designer for a commercial firm in Manhattan. So good taste was a given trait.

In planning Kevin’s bar mitzvah, Shari learned about what it’s like to put an event together from 5,000 miles away. On her first trip, the family visited different venues, created an itinerary for a family tour across Israel, figured out a way to put the mitzvah back into the bar with acts of chesed, and organized the writing of a Sefer Torah in honor of the event. They took only that one trip for the preplanning and came back with everyone in tow else exactly one year later. Everything was waiting for them, perfectly conceived and executed.

There was a little bit everything.…florists, rabbis, tour guides, music, food, photographers, videographers, clowns and entertainment, camels, and plane rides. Every little detail was covered, from the hospitality baskets in each guest’s room, to pre-printed programs, siddurim, the place cards for each meal and much more. The bar mitzvah lasted a full week, 100 people attended from all over the world, including Australia. The main event took place in Jerusalem at the Kotel, with a party later that night at a venue that overlooked the Old City Walls and the Temple Mount.

The rest of week was spent touring Israel and spending the following Shabbat at the King David and the Great Synagogue. It was a learning experience and when it was all over, Harvey said to Shari, “I want you to work for me.”

She agreed to become his “American partner, ” and three years ago, joined Protexsia Plus, Harvey’s firm. She spends most of her time in Englewood, putting plans together for people from across America who want meaningful, memorable, events in Israel. Though she cut her teeth on her own son’s bar mitzvah, she’s also planned Passover programs in Herzliya, events at orphanages, army bases, the Israel museum, winery tours, spa

tours, weddings (she’s now planning one on the beach in Caesaria, near the Roman ruins) and VIP tours that are very personal and not like typical “Missions to.”

Sometimes things are offbeat: they arrange for rock climbing, rapelling off mountains, jeeping in the desert at night–there’s no thrill like the thrill of daring someone to take potshots at you or taking shots yourself on a shooting range, in addition to chopper rides, parasailing, swimming with the dolphins and spending nights in Bedouin tents.

Shari says, “The best part for the hosts and hostesses is that what we do for them is hassle-free. When we did our own party, my husband said it was fantastic because he was able to enjoy himself as if he were a guest not a host. That sensibility is what I bring to everything I plan. I want it to be a personal, happy experience for everyone, including the party planners. There’s no joy in grief.”

Since then Shari has commuted back and forth and across this country and that country more than fifty times, in order to accommodate her clients. The most interesting event she planned was a bar mitzvah that took place in King Solomon’s copper mines in Timna, near Eilat. Imagine 100 West Siders from Manhattan gathered in a tent in the desert, eating and drinking and praying and partying until all hours of the night. “There was no Zabar’s in sight, and they still had a good time,” she said, laughing.

One about to be engaged couple took a chopper ride to the top of Masada, all decked out in their finest…ties and tails for him, elegant gown for her. When they got there, the iced champagne was waiting, he proposed on one knee, she accepted, and all the people on top of the mountain, all strangers, wished them well.

She agreed to become his “American partner, ” and three years ago, joined Protexsia Plus, Harvey’s firm. She spends most of her time in Englewood, putting plans together for people from across America who want meaningful, memorable, events in Israel. Though she cut her teeth on her own son’s bar mitzvah, she’s also planned Passover programs in Herzliya, events at orphanages, army bases, the Israel museum, winery tours, spa tours, weddings (she’s now planning one on the beach in Caesaria, near the Roman ruins) and VIP tours that are very personal and not like typical “Missions to.”

Sometimes things are offbeat: they arrange for rock climbing, rapelling off mountains, jeeping in the desert at night–there’s no thrill like the thrill of daring someone to take potshots at you or taking shots yourself on a shooting range, in addition to chopper rides, parasailing, swimming with the dolphins and spending nights in Bedouin tents.

Shari says, “The best part for the hosts and hostesses is that what we do for them is hassle-free. When we did our own party, my husband said it was fantastic because he was able to enjoy himself as if he were a guest not a host. That sensibility is what I bring to everything I plan. I want it to be a personal, happy experience for everyone, including the party planners. There’s no joy in grief.”

Since then Shari has commuted back and forth and across this country and that country more than fifty times, in order to accommodate her clients. The most interesting event she planned was a bar mitzvah that took place in King Solomon’s copper mines in Timna, near Eilat. Imagine 100 West Siders from Manhattan gathered in a tent in the desert, eating and drinking and praying and partying until all hours of the night. “There was no Zabar’s in sight, and they still had a good time,” she said, laughing.

One about to be engaged couple took a chopper ride to the top of Masada, all decked out in their finest…ties and tails for him, elegant gown for her. When they got there, the iced champagne was waiting, he proposed on one knee, she accepted, and all the people on top of the mountain, all strangers, wished them well.

**
Friedman is our bureau chief for the greater New York area and a freelance writer based in New Milford, New Jersey. A member of the American Jewish Press Association, she recently wrote with David Gold, Why Should I Care? Lessons From The Holocaust. More information about the book is on the web at www.whyshouldicareontheweb.com

Keeping the Ft. Hood massacre in perspective

By Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM—Allahu Akbar, Praise the Lord, and Hear O Israel elicit the best of sentiments, and something else.

A youtube segment from CNN shows radical Muslims, native born Americans, including one who converted from Judaism, who praise Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, call for Osama bin Laden to continue his holy war, and urge the destruction of Israel.
My link to the item came from an American who wrote, “The Revolutionary Muslim Brothers in our midst protected by the legal rights given to them by OUR COUNTRY, the country they detest so much…slowly but surely we are becoming the United States of Arabia! WATCH and WAKE UP!”

Another wrote that “Nidal Malik Hasan is (a) . . .medical doctor (who) assert(s) the . . . Palestinian Arab-specific version of the Hippocratic oath: do harm.”

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, MD is a religious Muslim and American-born son of immigrants from Palestine. He prays daily, may have authored e-mails praising suicide bombers, and was heard saying Allahu Akbar while killing people at Fort Hood.

All this is food for thought. But we should also remember the religious Jews Baruch Goldstein, Yigal Amir, and Yaacov Teitel. Goldstein was a physician and IDF reservist who killed 29 Muslims at prayer in 1994; Amir killed Yitzhak Rabin; Teitel is accused of murder and other violence against Jewish leftists, Palestinians, and homosexuals. All found justification for their actions in religious doctrine.

Lest Christians feel themselves secure from deadly religiosity, they should remember those believers who expressed their faith by killing abortionists.

And there has been no shortage of rage among individuals not affiliated with religion, shown by notable cases in post offices, McDonalds, and high schools. The same issue of the New York Times that carried stories about Fort Hood included a headline about a dismissed employee in Florida who returned to his workplace, killed one and wounded six.

Goldstein, Teitel, and Malik share the trait of having been raised in the United States. They add to the reputation of a society whose murder rate is twice as high as the closest 

western democracy, and more than four times the average among other democracies.

Jewish and Christian leaders have, for the most part, abandoned ancient doctrines that call for violence against others. Islam has earned our suspicion due to 9-11, suicide bombers, and what happens in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Muslim countries and Israel have an easier task in dealing with religious extremists than the United States. Egypt, Jordan, Tunis, and Syria can wrap themselves in the symbols of Islam while sending the police and army to do things unacceptable elsewhere against those who threaten the state’s control of what happens within its boundaries.

Israeli rabbis condemn their colleagues who urge soldiers not to obey orders about clearing settlements. Security services infiltrate Muslim and Jewish extremists. The Knesset banned Rabbi Meir Kahane from politics. Politicians and the media come down heavily against those who endorse the actions of Goldstein, Amir, or Teitel. The police mass against Muslim and Jewish demonstrators at holy sites, or parking garages open on the Sabbath.

The United States suffers from its pride in individual freedom, multi-culturalism, openness to refugees (especially from countries affected by American military activities), religious freedom, opposition to ethnic profiling, privacy, and easy access to fire arms. We can expect a surge of harassment directed at people who look Middle Eastern, as well as official expressions emphasizing that a misguided fringe should not bring retribution against the great majority of Muslims who are good neighbors.

Tensions may increase along with immigration from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Members of the Muslim community in and around Fort Hood have expressed their concern.

“When a white guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal. But when a Muslim does it, they call it jihad. . . Ultimately it was Brother Nidal’s doing, but the command should be held accountable. . . . G.I.’s are like any equipment in the Army. When it breaks, those who were in charge of keeping it fit should be held responsible for it.”

Ranking officials expressed confusion and caution. The Army Chief of Staff said, “This is a tough one. . . It’s a kick in the gut.” President Obama cautioned against “jumping to conclusions” while investigations continue.

How should individuals protect themselves from the madness of believers? There may be nothing more certain than staying away from sensitive places at sensitive times, and hoping for good luck.

*
Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. Email: msira@mscc.huji.ac.il

Klezmer melodies can be as American as ….

By Sara Appel-Lennon

SAN DIEGO–Two melodies beloved by English-speaking children recently were played by Klezmer clarinetists at San Diego State University to demonstrate that any song can be Klezmer if played with Klezmer flavor.

Yale Strom, Jewish Studies Artist in Residence coordinated the Klezmer complementary concert on Wednesday, November 4, featuring Leo Chelyapov, Robet Zelickman, and Gary Gould.

Strom used humor to encourage turning off cell phones when he said that they don’t ring in G minor. The concert was a combination of music and education as each clarinetist gave a mini Klezmer music lesson.

According to Leo Chelyapov any music with Klezmer flavor including non-Jewish music is Klezmer. Chelyapov demonstrated Klezmer flavor on his clarinet by playing “Old McDonald Had a Farm”. He showed how to modernize Klezmer music by combining Klezmer flavor with a Jazz tune to create Funk.

Zelickman distinguished between folk music and art music. Art music occurs when an audience attends a concert to hear musicians. Folk music takes place when musicians perform at a bar/bat mitzvah, party, or wedding.

To Zelickman, everyone is a Klezmer, meaning a vessel of song.. Zelickman told the audience “I’m gonna play for you” A young boy said “Play for me.” The audience responded with a collective chuckle.

Zelickman shared that Klezmer serves the community and Klezmer is secular music not religious music. Zelickman played bass clarinet, which has the same range as a bassoon.
Gary Gould mentioned that Klezmer musicians were transients in the shtetls. Gould, a showman, portrayed this by placing his opened clarinet case on the floor in front of him, as he waited for contributions. Gould said that Klezmers only started performing after the first coin was tossed.

Klezmers are looked upon favorably today, yet this wasn’t always the case. Gould said that “Klezmer” was rarely used in a sentence except to say “I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry a Klezmer.”

Gould taught the audience to listen to Klezmer music by recognizing the ornamentation. He described four ornaments as the trill or grace notes, the kvetch-little complaint, the bend, and the laugh.

Like Chelyapov, Gould demonstrated Klezmer flavor by playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on a pennywhistle.

Yale Strom accompanied the trio of clarinetists and told of a little complaint by a Jewish woman in New York. After Strom and his band played Klezmer music at a Hebrew Home, the woman said “That’s not Klezmer music. There’s no clarinet. Strom said “It’s ‘Yidl mit ‘n Fiddle’ not Yidl mit’n clarinet.”

The evening ended with the tunes of “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn” and “Yiddisheh Mama” with Strom on violin, Jeff Pekarek on bass, Elizabeth Schwartz doing vocals, Leo Cheyapov and Robert Gould on clarinet, and Robert Zelickman on bass clarinet.

The evening was fun, informative, and pleasant to the ear. Since San Diego State is on the trolley line, one can avoid paying campus parking fees by taking the trolley at minimal cost like my husband and I did.

Strom and Hot P’Stromi will be performing with a Flamenco dancer from Spain next year at San Diego State University in a bigger venue, in Smith Hall, on Tuesday April 13 at 7:00 p.m.

 **
Appel-Lennon is a San Diego-based freelance writer. Her email: appels@jewishsightseeing.com

Why I’m marrying a Jewish girl

By Steve Hofstetter

NEW YORK—I have spent the better part of the last four years convincing my parents that I don’t need to marry a Jewish girl. Turns out I was wrong. It’s not the first time that’s happened. Though it may be the first time I’m admitting it to them.

Every Jew of my generation grew up with the irrefutable truth that we had to marry Jewish, or all Jews would die out and everyone who was already Jewish would spontaneously convert.

We were told that with the current rate of intermarriage, Jews would die out in three generations. That was a lot to put on my lanky shoulders. While you’re at it. why don’t you tell me I’m Neo and offer to unplug me from the Matrix. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the ship in the Matrix is named “Zion.”

As a 14-year-old, I was repeatedly instructed that my destiny was to help repopulate the planet with Jews. That’s hard to grasp at that age. At that point, I’d only found one girl in the entire city willing to kiss me – if I was going to save my religion, I’d have to get moving.

I lived in a predominantly Latino, Indian, and Asian neighborhood, but was exposed to plenty of Jewish girls. I was an active member of United Synagogue Youth, I worked at Camp Ramah, and even my high school and college had large populations of Jews (thank you, New York City). Every
girl I dated in high school was Jewish. Though I can’t fully take credit for that choice – a lanky bespectacled bookworm might do well at a Shabbaton, but that’s not the look most wasps go for.

By the time I was graduating college, I’d traded lanky for lean and
bookworm for well read. For the first time in my dating life, I had
options – but I held on to the irrational belief that if I didn’t marry a Jewish girl, Kirk Cameron would win.

I dated a non-Jew senior year, who was convinced that the reason I broke it off was because she wasn’t Jewish. Actually, I broke it off because she never made me laugh. Maybe if she was Jewish, she’d have had a better sense of humor. But when she told people I dumped her was because she wasn’t Jewish, I began to feel prejudiced.

Haven’t Jews always said that people should not be persecuted for their religious beliefs? So why shouldn’t I marry someone wonderful, who just happens to pray while kneeling?

The more I traveled, the more wonderful non-Jews I met. I tried dating all the Jewish women in Alabama, North Dakota, and West Virginia, but I wasn’t attracted to her. (Ba-zing!)

I ended up with a few non-Jewish girlfriends in a row – even buying a Christmas tree for one of them. That led to the statement most Jewish men of my background have said to their mothers at one point.

“Mom, I’m full.”

Kidding. What I said was, “Isn’t how she treats people more important than her religion?”

After a few hours of reminding me of everyone from Moses to Sandy Koufax, my mother had to concede that she’d rather I end up with a sweet and loving Christian than a mean and uncaring woman whose mother happened to be born Jewish. And thus, she had to admit that logically, religion was not her number one priority.

I was off the hook, kind of. I had logically browbeaten my mother into submission – into reluctant permission to marry a non-Jew. But something strange happened. As I grew up and began looking for “the one,” I started looking for her to be Jewish. “Ha Echat,” if you will.

What dozens of youth leaders and camp counselors had failed to explain to me was the one point I took away from my debate with my mother. That marrying a Jewish woman is simply better for me. It’s not about my kids or the future of our entire people. It’s about chemistry, and finding someone that’s passionate about what I love. And one thing that I love is being Jewish.

I love kibbitzing during kiddush, without having to explain either of those words to someone. I love knowing what baseball players are Jewish, and rooting for them a bit more because of it. I love eating buttered matzah the first morning of Passover (though by the eighth, I’m not as big of a fan). I finally realized that I don’t have to be Judah Macabee – I just have to be me. And it’s a lot more rewarding to share your life with someone who truly understands it.

I reactivated the J-Date profile my mother had encouraged me to have in college. On day one, I IMed Sara. On day two, we met. On day five, we were exclusive. And on day 51, I asked her to marry me.

Did I fall in love with Sara because she’s Jewish? Without performing a series of bizarre and potentially illegal experiments, I’ll never know for sure. But I do know that I enjoyed going to services with her on the High Holidays. I enjoyed eating with her in my brother’s Sukkah. And I enjoyed looking at pictures of her Bat Mitzvah knowing she grew up just as lanky and bookwormish as I.

So when you tell your kids that you want them to find a nice Jewish girl,or boy, or who cares what it is as long as it’s Jewish, I suggest you tell them why. They’re not looking for someone Jewish because it’s important to you. They’re looking for someone Jewish because it’s important to them.

I love you, Sara. And I look forward to teaching our kids to marry Jewish, too.

**
Steve Hofstetter is an internationally touring comedian who has been VH1, ESPN, and Comedy Central, but you’re more likely to have seen him on the last Barbara Walters Special.

Sha’ar Hanegev opens rocket-resistant elementary school

By Ulla Hadar

SHA’AR HANEGEV, Israel—Amid an atmosphere of joy and Zionistic rededication, the rebuilt, rocket-resistant Sha’ar Hanegev elementary school has been reopened in the same compound it had occupied for a half century.

Ceremonies inaugurating the seven-building complex on Thursday, November 5, marked the end of the elementary school’s two-year exile from Sha’ar Hanegev’s educational campus — a move that had been forced by Kassam missiles fired by Hamas terrorists from the nearby Gaza Strip.

Until now, students had been attending classes in crowded caravan trailers set up temporarily in Kibbutz Ruhama, beyond the range of the missiles. Now that the school has been built in a manner able to withstand explosions from falling missiles, authorities consider it safe enough for children in Grades 1 through 6 to resume their studies there. The rebuilt school is located in the educational complex of the Sha’ar Hanegev municipality, adjacent to Sapir College.

Each of the six grades has its own fortified building containing three classrooms, a teacher’s room, a computer classroom, hallway and restrooms. The seventh building is for the administration.

Keeping students of the same grade together–with their teachers and computer facility in the same building — facilitates a more relaxed atmosphere because there is no need for students to go
outside their building, and possibly risk exposure to falling missiles, during the school day.

A school yard for outdoor activities was built in such a way as to provide ready access to shelters for the students in the event of Israeli sirens announcing incoming missiles. Israelis in the Sha’ar Hanegev area have become accustomed to taking shelter within 15 seconds of hearing such “Red Alerts.”

After cutting a red string at the entrance of the school yard, Israel’s Education Minister Gideon Saar toured the new premises and sat in on a second-grade class. He was accompanied by Mayor Alon Schuster and by Israel’s former Minister of Eduction, Yuli Tamir, who had been a close partner to the school administration and the Sha’ar Hanegev municipality in the planning process for the school.

Elementary School Principal Anat Regev told the teachers, pupils, parents, VIP’s and other guests seated on the green lawn bordering the school yard that reopening the school was the 

occasion for immense excitement and a feeling of a dream come true.

“We stand here in front of you opening the brand new Kassam proof Sha’ar Hanegev elementary school,” she said. “This school has been planned very thoroughly, down to the smallest detail, in order to create the basis for the best possible environment for each pupil to study…. Many obstacles and difficulties have crossed our road but we developed and stand much stronger today celebrating a new beginning with hopes for a quiet future”

Alon Schuster, mayor of Sha’ar Hanegev, commented that “returning after two years at the temporary premises in Kibbutz Ruhama, everyone returns with their hearts full of hope, believing that here is the place for us to be.”

He noted that he himself had been born in Kibbutz Mefalsim (one of the ten kibbutzim in the Shaar Hanegev municipality) and had studied in this school from first grade to his graduation.

“Our task is to prove to ourselves, that even when difficulties surrounds us, we know how to live together, how to reach out to one another, embrace, to love, to help, to cry, to be happy but also to laugh together,” he said. “I am very proud of the school faculty and the school administration. Through very difficult years they have acted in the most extraordinary and respectful way. The staff knows how to deal with problems that occur along the way. I have the biggest hope for the future here at this campus.”

Saar told the gathering that “as a minister of education I get in touch with all kind of situations, not all of them as joyful as this one today. For me it is a pleasure to meet so many talented and intelligent children and it makes my job very worthwhile.

“In the ceremony the two songs the choir sang were about peace,” Saar continued. “This indicates to me that despite the difficult periods you have all gone through you still have not lost the hope for peace.”

“I do believe that in the future we will reach the point where we ask ourselves why on earth we had to build a fortified school.

“I praise all the citizens and the children of this area that have gone through some tough times, and I am certain that everyone will be happy in this new environment.”

Hadar is Sha’ar Hanegev bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World. Email: hadaru@sandiegojewishworld.com

Filner says other Jewish members of Congress feared to vote against measure condemning Goldstone report

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO, November 7—U.S. Rep. Bob Filner (Democrat, San Diego) who was the only Jewish member of Congress to vote against condemning the Goldstone report in a 344-36 vote of the House of Representatives last week, says that he is as pro-Israel as any of the 29 other Jewish members of Congress who voted in favor of the resolution.

In fact, he added in a telephone interview on Friday, many of the Jewish Congress members who voted in favor of the resolution privately congratulated him for “having the guts” to stand up for his beliefs. He said there is so much misinformation about what the Goldstone report actually says that other Jewish members of Congress feared to vote against the condemnation resolution.

Filner said that had there been hearings on the resolution, the public would have better understood what the Goldstone report did and didn’t say. However, said Filner, because the intent was for the House of Representatives to take a position prior to the debate on the Goldstone report by the United Nations General Assembly, the measure was rushed through.

As was expected, the General Assembly by an overwhelming vote subsequently endorsed the Goldstone Report which calls on Israel and the Palestinians to investigate possible war crimes by their forces during Operation Cast Lead, refers the matter to the U.N. Security Council for possible further action, and seeks to convene a meeting of the High Contracting Parties of the Geneva Conventions to set up a fund to compensate war victims.

Filner said that he read most of the Goldstone report as well as a letter that its author, South African Justice Richard J. Goldstone, sent to the House of Representatives disputing the accuracy of many of the clauses in the resolution.

Along with a letter jointly signed by six Israeli Human Rights Organizations –B’Tselem, Gisha, Hamoked (Center for the Defence of the Individual), Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Rabbis for Human Rights and Yesh Din (Volunteers for Human Rights)–Goldstone’s arguments persuaded him to vote against the resolution (HR 867), Filner said.

Filner added that he has cousins in Israel who are evenly divided on the impact of the Goldstone report so it is not surprising that there are similar divisions in the United States.

The congressman rejected the contention that the Goldstone commission had decided upon anti-Israel findings before it even began its inquiry. ”Before he (Goldstone) took charge, the U.N. had to change the original mandate,” Filner said. Even though Israel declined to cooperate with Goldstone inquiry, the report nevertheless “came down on both sides–so I don’t understand the hostility,” he said.

If there are pro-Israel facts missing from the report, “Goldstone makes it clear: ‘how can you complain when you wouldn’t talk to us.’”

The congressman faxed to San Diego Jewish World a copy of Goldstone’s Oct. 29 letter to the resolution’s principal co-authors, Congressmembers Howard Berman (Democrat, California) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican-Florida), respectively the chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

A “whereas” clause contending the mandate only authorized an investigation of Israel and not Hamas “ignores the fact that I and others refused this mandate… The mandate given to and accepted by me and under which we worked and reported read as follows: ”…to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in “Gaza from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after.”

Another “whereas” clause in the House Resolution contended that the mandate made no mention of the constant rocket fire from Gaza that had rained down on Israel for eight years prior to the attack.

Goldstone responded that “the expanded mandate clearly included the rocket and mortar attacks. Moreover, Chapter XXIV of the Report considers in detail the relentless rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel and the terror they caused to the people living within their range. The resulting findings made in the report is that these attacks constituted serious war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.”

The House adopted its resolution prior to roll call voting in the U.N. General Assembly on the Goldstone report. The tally was 114 to endorse the report and 18 against, with 44 abstentions and 16 countries not voting.

In their speeches, many of the U.N. delegates focused on alleged Israeli misconduct and either downplayed or made no mention of violations by Palestinians.

Typical of those supporting the report was Hamidon Ali, the delegate from Malaysia, who, according to the U.N. news summary of the proceedings, said “The Goldstone Report clearly showed the brutality of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, unleashed in Gaza for more than three weeks. The Report made ‘grim reading,’ as it had pointed out that Israel’s military operation fit into a continuum of policies based on or resulting in violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Operation Cast Lead was different from previous military actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, due to its unprecedented severity and long-lasting consequences. ’Such actions, premised on a deliberate policy of disproportionate force, aimed not at a specific enemy but at the ‘supporting infrastructure,’ meaning the civilian population in Gaza. The operation had been carefully planned and executed, meaning that all killings must have been conducted in cold blood.

“Despite the gruesome situation, Malaysia had been struck by the courage of Palestinians, he said, noting that the ‘assiduous’ work of Palestinian non-governmental and civil society organizations, which provided support to people in extreme circumstances and gave voice to the suffering, deserved to be acknowledged. Also, Malaysia had noted with interest the dissenting voices in Israel against the operation, which understood that Israel could not ‘purchase’ peace and security with the blood of suffering Palestinians. The global community had failed to act to ensure the protection of civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Report offered two options: take action to achieve peace for Palestinians or allow illegal Israeli actions to go unpunished. Malaysia had chosen the former and urged all States to implement the Report’s recommendations.”

Aware of criticisms that the report did not address violations by Hamas–or even mention Hamas by name–some voting in the majority offered what they considered justification.

According to the U.N. press summary, “Iran’s delegate said he had voted in favour of the resolution, but there was an imbalance in placing the occupying Power that had committed crimes in Gaza on equal footing with the Palestinian side. The Report reflected only partial dimensions of the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. In response to the baseless allegation made by the regime that occupied the Palestinian territories, he said that regime tried to distort facts and raise irrelevant issues to evade the important dilemma it faces: the lack of legitimacy, which emanated from more than 60 years of occupying lands.”

The United States was among the 18 countries opposing the resolution. Again, according to the U.N. press report, its representative said that the U.S. was “deeply concerned by the suffering of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. The best way to achieve a comprehensive peace in the region was two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side. The United States was fully committed to that goal. He urged the parties to begin talks. The United States supported accountability for human rights in the Gaza Conflict in a way that respected internal processes. He said the United States believed the Goldstone Report was deeply flawed and had an unbalanced focus on Israel. It did not give appropriate responsibility to Hamas for going into heavily populated areas. The United States had real concerns about the resolution. With the far-reaching recommendations and findings, it had serious implications and it was not appropriate to endorse the Report in its entirety. The resolution’s move to press the Security Council to consider the Report was unconstructive, he said. The Council was already seized of the situation the Middle East and held monthly meetings on the topic, the only subject discussed with such frequency. The appropriate discussion for this report was the Human Rights Council. The request for the meeting of the high contracting parties was also unnecessary and unproductive. Convening a conference for the purpose of spotlighting one issue could heighten division and could set back the talks. This and the failure to mention Hamas by name was another example of handling Arab-Israeli issues in an unbalanced manner.”

Israel’s delegate noted that the U.N. General Assembly vote came “two days after the revelation of Hamas’ newly improved Iranian-made rockets, and one day after the interception of a ship with rockets destined for Israeli population centres” and that “he had just complained to the Security Council. Today’s draft resolution mocked the reality faced by democratic States like Israel that confronted terrorist threats. It endorsed a one-sided, prejudice report of the discredited Human Rights Council. Further, he said, the text disregarded Israel’s inherent right to defend it citizens and demonstrated yet another pretext to bash Israel at the United Nations. It tried to export from Geneva to New York a campaign of de-legimization. Israel had been conducting credible and thorough investigations, irrespective of any United Nations report. The Fact Finding Mission’s Report tried to draw an equivalence between Israel and those who tried to target Israeli civilians …”