Thus heavy moral burdens of the Washington reporter are eased. You don’t have to get familiar with the question of justice in Israel and Palestine. Just get your talking points and move on. On four key points, Kenner compares the South African jurist’s scathing report on Israeli Defense Forces actions during the Gaza war with Israel’s stout defense.

Guess who comes out ahead?

Use of white phosphorous: The IDF barely bothers to deny it used the deadly inflammatory that extinguished several Palestinian families in flames. If that isn’t a war crime, there’s no such thing. Advantage Goldstone.

Destruction of a flour mill. Israel says Hamas soldiers operated in the area. There’s little dispute about that. Do you need to destroy a source of food while pursuing armed combatants? If your war is just,  maybe. Advantage Israel.

Destruction of a water well. Israel says it had no knowledge that there was a key water source in the vicinity of Hamas command post. How likely is that? Not very. Advantage Goldstone.

Destruction of the House of Abu Askar and the Death of His Two Sons: Israel warned a Hamas commander to evacuate his house. He did and seven minutes later Israel bombed.. The family later returned to pick through the rubble; Israel bombed again. Two of the man’s sons, 13 and 19, were killed. Israel admits dropping high explosives in a crowded urban areas without a second warning to non-combatants. Israel says the two young men were legitimate targets. I am sure there are 13 year old Hamas militants who pose some kind of threat to Israeli Jewish civilians. I’m sure IDF commanders in Gaza hoped to kill them, knowing that non-combatants would likely be killed in the process. They didn’t care enough not to push the button. Advantage Goldstone.

Of course, Goldstone’s report deserves less cursory treatment than this crude scorecard, but Kenner has performed a public service. A complex and compehensive document, the Goldstone report poses that most poignant of questions for the contemporary journalist: if you can’t tweet about it, does it exist?