Moralen i diskussionen om proportionalitet i kriget mellan Israel och Hamas

När man läser i svensk press om bataljen i Gaza framtonas de oproportionerliga i att fler Palestinier dör än Israeler. Donniel Hartman på Shalom Hartman Institute går systematiskt igenom frågan om moraliteten med kriget och i krigets utförande.

Jag håller med honom om att inget land som nu kritiserar Israel skulle ha tolererat vad Hamas har gjort mot dem. Han säger bl.a.:

"It is under the cloud of this moral ambiguity that much of the criticism against Israel finds shelter. The justification of self defense dissipates when one compares Kassam rockets and mortar shells and their casualty toll with the might of the Israeli army and the consequences of its actions. Furthermore, it is also this reality which fuels the calls for proportionality in which the use of force on Israel's side, it is claimed, must match that of the enemy it attacks. A "disproportionate" response is classified as unjust, for it is no longer contained or justified under the rubric of self-defense.

The moral difficulty, if not corruption, entailed within the above argument lies in the fact that it essentially allows terrorist organizations to terrorize with impunity, and morally handcuffs a society's legitimate right to defend itself not merely when its existence is threatened, but when the lives of some of its citizens are in danger and many more are subjected to the effects of terror. The "weak" are allowed to engage in terror, for it is argued that it is the only means available to them, while the more powerful, and in this case Israel, are always morally reprehensible, for our power and strength voids any military response the legitimacy of the claim of self-defense. This "moral" argument, which grants immunity to terror perpetrated by the weaker, is a significant moral failing in much of the public discourse on morality of war."

Det finns naturligtvis Israeler som är emot insatsen i Gaza, och de lyfts nu fram i allt större utsträckning i den svenska pressen, men i en demokrati som Israel skulle landet inte existera om de var i majoritet.