One of the catches with media and publicity is that once information has been spread, the damage is done. It doesn't matter if this information was true or not, or if someone later comes out and changes their opinion or take on the events. Once the propaganda or story breaks, there is no turning back.
There are historical examples of this phenomenon, such as Watergate, but now a new modern day example has emerged: the Goldstone Report.
The Goldstone Report was written after a U.N. fact finding mission on the Gaza conflict, in response to Operation Cast Lead. The report was released in September 2009 and caused an uproar amongst Israel supporters because it accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This was another blow to Israel's reputation and definitely contributed to the growth of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
Now, Richard Goldstone, the head of the original report, has announced that he and the other committee members regret the way they negatively portrayed Israel's behavior during Cast Lead. In this article, Goldstone faults Israel for not cooperating with their mission and thus leaving them without crucial evidence to prove Israel's innocence. In addition, he points out that the Goldstone Report is "the first time illegal acts of terrorism from Hamas are being investigated and condemned by the United Nations." Furthermore, he claims that he did this to try to help Israel and change the bias of the U.N. against Israel. I think he's just saying these things to regain support from those who were and are enraged and outraged by the Goldstone's negative portrayal of Israel, now that he sees he was wrong.
The problem with this new found "regret" is that the damage has already been done. The Goldstone Report has been used to spread anti-Israel propaganda, and all the more so because it was headed by a Jew. Now that Goldstone is coming and in essence saying "whoops, it wasn't really as bad as I told you it was," it won't change the opinions of people who were affected by the original document. In fact, I predict that this reconsideration won't yield even nearly as much attention as the original report did.
Do you think this announcement will change world opinion towards Israel, or at least restore the opinion people had prior to the Goldstone Report? Do you think it will have any impact whatsoever?
I think that this report will have some impact, but like you said the damage has already been done and it will not really change the minds of those who supported his original statements. I also think that whoever did support his original statements will support them regardless of what's true or not and those who will accept what he is now saying, either always saw Israel in this light or did not have very strong opinions in the beginning and still don't really have strong opinions.
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