Alan Dershowitz and the morality of killing civilians...

I wrote the following letter in response to Dershowitz's defense of Israeli terrorism at the LA Times. As I have little confidence that the Times will publish it, I might as well post it here.

Here is the Dershowitz article at the Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-dershowitz22jul22,0,7685210.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

Mr. Dershowitz, in his opinion piece, “‘Civilian Casualty’? It Depends” attempts, like any good defense lawyer, to muddy the moral waters for his client.

The FBI defines terrorism as “...the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”

This is precisely the program that Israel has unleashed in both Gaza and the West Bank-- and now in Lebanon. Reports and photographs from journalists overwhelmingly detail that the Israel military is terrorizing the entire Lebanese people by attacking airports, bridges, civilian vehicles, homes, public buildings, infrastructure, power stations, etc.

The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits “collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism ...” (Article 33). According to Article 147 of the Convention, “extensive destruction ... not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” are also war crimes.

If one can stomach the photographs coming out of Lebanon, you can see destroyed vehicles and houses with the bodies of burnt and dismembered Lebanese children scattered nearby. Somehow, at least in Mr. Dershowitz’s moral calculus, these dead children are culpable in their own murders. Perhaps they have chosen their parents unwisely and therefore deserve their fate. What Mr. Dershowitz truly believes is that Israeli lives are worth immeasurably more than Arab lives. That is the core axiom behind his rationalizations for an Israeli war on civilians.

Since the reputed casus belli of this war was the capture of two Israeli soldiers, how is it that the Israelis know that their missing soldiers aren’t in one of these civilian houses they’re blowing up? Israeli civilians, victimized by Hezbollah rockets, are also pawns in this conflict as long as Israel refuses a ceasefire and insists on continuing the violence.

The creation and growth of Hezbollah was a direct reaction to the last Israeli invasion and 18 year occupation of Lebanon. At that time Israeli supposedly invaded to destroy the PLO; instead they birthed an even more formidable foe. A good working definition of insanity is repeating the same actions over and over again while expecting different results.

Considering the long history of abuse the Jewish people have suffered in Europe, it is tragic and ironic to see Israel now dishing out a similar medicine to helpless civilians in the Middle East.

Like all good trial lawyers, Mr. Dershowitz hopes to represent the interests of his client, Israel, by confusing the jury. But obfuscation and sophistry really does nothing to dispel this simple reality: Israel, armed and subsidized by American taxpayers, is presently engaged in wholesale terrorism and war crimes in Lebanon.