(JTA) — A delegation of senior South African Jewish communal leaders met with Richard Goldstone Monday to discuss Goldstone’s participation in the United Nations inquiry into the Gaza war.
The meeting was held as part of a deal brokered between the South African Zionist Federation and Goldstone that allowed the judge to attend his grandson’s bar mitzvah on May 1 in the absence of threatened protests. Goldstone, who lives in America, initially had said he would not attend.
According to a release issued by the South African Zionist Federation, the discussion conveyed “the hurt and concerns of the South African Jewish community regarding the findings and impact of the report.”
The Goldstone report accused Israel and Hamas of possible crimes against humanity.
Goldstone said he had spent much of his professional life championing international criminal justice.
“It would have been hypocritical for me to continue to speak out against violations of international law and impunity for war crimes around the world but remain silent when it came to Israel simply because I am Jewish,” he said.
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