Wiesenthal Center protests Goldstone lecture

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is objecting to the appearance of Richard Goldstone at New York University.

Goldstone, the author of a fervently disputed report on Israel’s conduct in the 2008 Gaza war, is slated to deliver a keynote address at the university in late February, according to a news release from the center.

In a statement, the Los Angeles based-Wiesenthal Center urged the university president, John Sexton, not to grant Goldstone a platform.

“This shameful document provides Hamas, which deploys its terror infrastructure within and among Gaza’s civilians, with a virtual free pass, while accusing Israel of deliberately targeting civilians,” said the center’s associate dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper. “Should Goldstone’s outrageous recommendations be adopted, international law will be used to render defenseless Israel against onslaughts by non-state adversaries against its civilians.”

Goldstone, a retired South African judge, has been a visiting professor at NYU’s law school. He also has served as a faculty member of the university’s Hauser Global Law School program at whose dinner he is reportedly to appear.