Those who paid the price

Those who paid the price was the innocent life ...

It has been nearly one year since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead o n the morning of 27 December 2008. It was at 11:30 a.m. that 88 Israeli aircraft flew above the Gaza Strip and simultaneously struck 100 targets within a span of just 220 seconds. Thirty minutes later, a second wave of 60 jets and helicopters struck an additional 60 targets.

Twenty one days and more than 1300 Gazans were killed in the attacks. Among the dead, at least 70% were civilian. Numerous illegal targets were destroyed, including mosques, hospitals, and United Nations facilities. The people of Gaza whose borders are controlled by land, air and sea were trapped during the onslaught within one of the most densely populated areas on earth.


Richard Goldstone, the first winner of the Stockholm Human Rights Award report on war crimes in Gaza was prompted by the 22-day war between Israeli military and Palestinian Hamas last winter. Goldstone report concluded that Israel and Hamas, committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The prize is awarded by the International Legal Assistance Consortium, the Swedish Bar Association and the International Bar Association for "an outstanding contribution to promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms," according to AFP.

Richard Goldstone has received locally and internationally include the International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association (1994) and Honorary Doctorates of Law from universities in Canada , the Netherlands , South Africa , the United Kingdom , and the United States and Stockholm Human Rights award . He is an Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple , London , an Honorary Fellow of St Johns College, Cambridge , an Honorary Member of the Association of the Bar of New York, and a Fellow of the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs of Harvard University. He is a Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since 1996, he has been a regular member of the faculty of the Salzburg Seminar.


Christmas is coming and I feel sorrow for those that lost their children in a senseless war in which death harvested their young victims.

May they rest in peace and let's pray that this will never happen again.
Margareth