“Fury, outrage, disappointment, betrayal” were the words bandied about, the tone of voice noticeably harsh. In telephone interviews I conducted with community leaders in Johannesburg this week, there was no escaping the fact that South Africa’s Jewish community was incensed.
This Yom Kippur, had Judge Richard Goldstone asked for forgiveness, which he didn’t, he would have found that even the most virtuous members of his old community could not bring themselves to grant it. From their golden boy, he has gone to being the wicked son.
There is palpable anger at Goldstone within the mainstream South African Jewish community; a feeling that one of their own has betrayed them, sold them out. Not simply one of their own, but one of their most respected representatives, someone they held in high esteem, a champion of the new South Africa. Here, the much-respected judge has fallen a long way since publishing his scathing report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza; his once formidable stature shattered, his golden aura blackened. The once-brave judge who opened up apartheid’s can of worms and took on Yugoslav and Rwandan war criminals, did not do the brave thing this time – he did not defend Israel against the Human Rights Council onslaught. He did the opposite – he lent his standing, his Jewishness, to the attack on his people. Continue reading →
