I know that in blogosphere terms I’m wildly out-of-date to draw attention at this point to this article, published on July 25 by Prof. Ze’ev Maoz. But it is an important beacon of moral clarity in an Israel that seems largely to have become wrapped up in an aura of extreme self-righteousness that has clouded it (and much of the current US political leadership, too) from being able truly to see and care about the intrinsic worth of every single human person, including those who happen not to be Jewish or Israeli.
Maoz’s article is even more important because from 1994 through 1997 he was the head of Tel Aviv University ‘s very prestigious and professional “Jaffee Center for Security Studies”. He really is someone who knows whereof he writes concerning the nature of warfare.
Maoz writes:
- There’s practically a holy consensus right now that the war in the North is a just war and that morality is on our side. The bitter truth must be said: this holy consensus is based on short-range selective memory, an introverted worldview, and double standards.
This war is not a just war. Israel is using excessive force without distinguishing between civilian population and enemy, whose sole purpose is extortion. That is not to say that morality and justice are on Hezbollah’s side. Most certainly not. But the fact that Hezbollah “started it” when it kidnapped soldiers from across an international border does not even begin to tilt the scales of justice toward our side.
Let’s start with a few facts…
He then reviews the history of Israel’s (extremely harmful) military assaults on and in Lebanon since 1982. He continues:
- So much for the history of morality. Now, let’s consider current affairs. What exactly is the difference between launching Katyushas into civilian population centers in Israel and the Israel Air Force bombing population centers in south Beirut, Tyre, Sidon and Tripoli? The IDF has fired thousands of shells into south Lebanon villages, alleging that Hezbollah men are concealed among the civilian population. Approximately 25 Israeli civilians have been killed as a result of Katyusha missiles to date. The number of dead in Lebanon, the vast majority comprised of civilians who have nothing to do with Hezbollah, is more than 300.
Worse yet, bombing infrastructure targets such as power stations, bridges and other civil facilities turns the entire Lebanese civilian population into a victim and hostage, even if we are not physically harming civilians. The use of bombings to achieve a diplomatic goal – namely, coercing the Lebanese government into implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1559 – is an attempt at political blackmail, and no less than the kidnapping of IDF soldiers by Hezbollah is the aim of bringing about a prisoner exchange…
(My thanks to friends Len and Libby Traubman, longtime workers for Israeli-Palestinian harmony and justice, who alerted me to this important article.)
Sigh. Yet more anti-semitism. When oh when will you see the likes of Prof. Ze’ev Maoz for the loathsome anti-semites that they are?
Podsnap, when will it occur to you that you are on the way to making real anti-semitism acceptable again?
You probably didn’t understand that question, so I’ll elaborate a little. This trick of labeling all your political opponents “anti-semites” is really an abuse of the good will that your predecessors have built up slowly and painfully over the decades, even centuries. The technique works not because it is truthful, but because it is slanderous; because it is being used against people who are not anti-semites, and do not want to be thought of as such. You can only get away with this for so long.
When you turn a form of enlightenment into a crude political weapon, you degrade the progress of civilization, and invite a backlash. We on the political left in the U.S. should know something about this. We have made our share of these mistakes, and are now suffering the consequences.
He’s right in that this is not selling outside of israel and neo con circles. QUITE the contrary.
H’mm, I was reading Podsnap as using deep irony (but not signaling it as such, which I always think is helpful for a global readership*). Isn’t that the best reading of his comment? Otherwise, how could anyone credibly accuse Maoz of being an “anti-semite”?
*It’s not that “global readers” don’t use and understand irony. But rather that for someone for whom English may be a third, fourth, or fifth language, struggling to decode an English-language text may be hard enough work in its own right without having the confusion of having to infer that the text is intended to mean roughly the opposite of what it actually appears to state.
How’s your comprehension in Swahili?
Helena,
Yes, that’s how I took it as well. It can only have been a blogosphere “toast” along the lines of “Confusion to D. and V. and the rest of the usual suspects”.
On a not entirely unrelated note, is there anyone there who knows about that Something Farm in south Lebanon? I forget the first name but the second name is definitely “Farm”. It’s just that I hadn’t heard of it previously but thanks to this latest descent into a further inner circle of hell and madness it’s come to my attention. What is it? Where is it? Why is it a “bone of contention”? Anyone able to shed any light? Is it a prime piece of Lebanese real estate that’s been goniffed?
It’s ‘Sheba’ or ‘Shebaa’ farms. You should be able to form your own opinion after a little googling. Mine is that it’s a non-issue suddenly trumped up by Syria and Lebanon in 1999. I say that as someone who doesn’t usually take Israel’s side.
If Podsnap was being ironic the irony falls flat. People are called ‘anti-semitic’ for much milder criticisms of Israel. When the critic is Jewish it’s usually changed to ‘self-loathing’.
The link to the original article from Haaretz now only gives errors, as apparently do searches on the Haaretz site for references to it or Prof. Ma’oz (with or without the diacritical marks 🙂 )
Any mirror sites, saved copies, etc. would be appreciated.
And thank you all on this site for a balanced, intelligent, humane and just approach to all of the worldwide issues discussed here.
If Podsnap was trying to be funny he failed. Pretending to be a knee-jerk anti-semitism accuser, or actually being a knee-jerk anti-semitism accuser, does nothing but mess up any meaningful discussion.
In contrast I’m happy to read Prof. Ma’oz’s comments. We can only hope that this article and others in Haaretz can galvanize Israeli opinion against the current operation.