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The Participants |
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Ruth Langer Associate Professor Associate Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning 成人快播 College |
John Pawlikowski |
Michael A. Signer |
The following exchange took place via e-mail on July 17-18, 2006, when the conflict between the State of Israel and Hezbollah dominated the daily news. It began with a note from John Pawlikowski to several people to which Ruth Langer and Michael Signer independently responded, beginning parallel conversations that are presented in the columns below. Central to the discussion are Catholic Just War principles, which are summarized in the inset box for readers who may be unfamiliar with them. The Center for Christian-Jewish Learning thanks all three writers for agreeing in this way to model interreligious dialogue even in circumstances of disagreement.
Just War TheoryAdapted from National Council of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, May 3, 1983. Just War theory was articulated by Augustine of Hippo and refined by Thomas Aquinas. The changes in warfare brought about by the invention of weapons of mass destruction raise questions about the applicability of Just War theory today. All of the following are understood as exceptions to the general presumption against the use of force: |
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Jus ad Bellum
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Jus in Bello
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July 17, 2006
The heart of the matter on the Christian side will be the question of the morality of collective punishment, which is a serious moral issue. After today I find Catholic support eroding. I would say this is for two reasons.
First of all, in my experience too many people in the Christian community seem unaware of the full context of the present situation. Most see it as Israel's excessive retaliation for the
capture of two of their soldiers. They are unaware of the border situation
for the past several years. Israel needs to do a better communications job
here.
The other reason has to do with the classical just war theory in Catholicism,
whether ordinary people invoke it or not. It consists of two parts. The first
is called the right to go to war. I think many would support Israel's right to
defend herself militarily. What is really drastically cutting sympathy for Israel
is the jus in bello, conduct during the war. The issue of collective punishment
is really very, very questionable morally. And this is where people are reacting as
they see the reports on the evening news. Most people do not see any
sense of moral questioning about tactics such as collective punishment by the
Israeli government or major Jewish institutions here. At the recent meeting in Vienna of the International Council of Christians and Jews, during
the discussion of the Middle East, we concluded that there need to be lines of
communication opened up on these questions. I find numerous people who were with
the Jewish community and Israel on the divestment issue now raising serious moral
questions about in bello tactics. Israel and Jewish organizations can continue
to ignore this reality. But it could lead to a more lasting turnaround in
Catholic attitudes towards the Israeli-Palestinian question that could have political
consequences.
I hope this gives you a better idea of the reactions I am getting from people who
have been "friends" of Israel for many years.
John
Dear John, Thanks. It is true that Israel has never been good at explaining herself. |
John, |
Ruth, |
Michael, |
John - I agree that there is lots of room for dialogue here, and I would like to come to understand the Christian teachings on this more fully. However, there is a difference between a group of prisoners with questionable connections to Taliban, Al Qaeda, etc., none of whom are suspected of significant leadership there, and an opponent who has been given 10,000-12,000 missiles to play with, designed only to drive Israel into the sea with no regard for civilians or any of the other categories of the Geneva conventions (including installing these missiles where it is impossible to distinguish between civilian and military targets). I would note that the has a clearly stated set of ethical values. The
Iranian source of many of these armaments makes no bones about their
purpose either. For Israel to fail to respond is for Israel to commit
suicide. For Israel to fail to respond decisively is for Israel simply
to prolong the suicide process. That cannot be the goal of jus in bello if it is a teaching I can learn from. |
Dear John, |
Two observations: |
Michael, I forgot to mention earlier that I agree with your Incarnational
emphasis. One of the problems we have in terms of Catholic perspectives here is a heavenly, non-historical
definition of the church, which undercuts social commitment in my judgment. Remember that F. Heer once
wrote that this Augustinian emphasis can easily devolve in contempt for the world.
I think this is an important point for further discussion regarding the State of Israel in
the dialogue. |
John, |
Dear John and Ruth, Members of the Jewish community will not understand the distinction between causes of war and jus in bello. Reuven Kimmelman has an essay that he wrote on war and peace in the Jewish tradition that is relevant. [For this essay, click HERE.] Clearly, I think that John's introduction of the ethical dilemmas posed during combat are relevant to the discussion. Our disagreements are also instructive and hopefully might model the type of conversation that Christians and Jews might have about this conflict. I put particular stock in my phrase, "incarnational issues" because I believe that approach is helpful getting Christians to understand what Jews feel and think about Eretz Yisrael. |
Ruth, |