Wars are a test of many things: military prowess, political leadership, and national unity, to name just three. They’re also a moral test.
Behind the many debates, protests, and proclamations concerning the Israel-Hamas war loom a few big questions: Is this a just war? And given the fact that Hamas does not follow the rules of war—hiding its men and weapons inside mosques and schools and hospitals—how is Israel to strike back?
There’s no one better qualified to answer these questions than the political theorist Michael Walzer. Ever since he published Just and Unjust Wars in 1977, Walzer has been the authority on the morality of war. So The Free Press’s Peter Savodnik gave Walzer a call and asked him to guide us through the moral maze presented by this conflict. Scroll down to read their conversation.
Wars also test our commitment to the principles we claim to value. Principles like the right to free speech. There has been an explosion of hateful, antisemitic speech in America and Europe in the days since Hamas’s attack on Israel—including on college campuses. In response to these loathsome expressions, some have pushed for a crackdown.
In our second piece this morning, former ACLU president Nadine Strossen and social psychologist Pamela Paresky say this would be a mistake: “It is easy to appreciate the rage over today’s blatantly antisemitic rhetoric, particularly when our society wouldn’t tolerate, much less celebrate, similar expressions of delight after the brutal slaughter of other minorities. We feel that anger personally. But when it comes to calls to silence, fire, or even deport those who express such noxious views, we are also clear: we must resist it.”
Scroll down to read their full essay: Even Antisemites Deserve Free Speech.
Here’s Peter’s interview:
Peter Savodnik: Just and Unjust Wars argues that, for a war to be just, there must be a just cause, it must be declared by a lawful authority, all the other ways of resolving the conflict must have been exhausted, there must be a reasonable chance of success, there must be a net benefit, and there must be proportionality. Given all that, is Israel justified in waging war against Hamas?
Michael Walzer: That’s not actually my list. It’s the just war theory list. I have doubts about the value of proportionality. Anyway, I think the answer is yes. But that doesn’t mean that a just response should be a full-scale war tomorrow.
PS: Hamas’s signature tactic seems to be to force Israel to kill civilians by placing military assets in places where there are a lot of civilians—like schools and hospitals. I’m wondering if it’s possible for Israel to fight a just war against Hamas?
MW: Well, it has to be possible. There always has to be a way of fighting a just war. And admittedly, yes, Hamas makes it difficult, because when you respond to an enemy that is fighting from civilian cover, you kill civilians who are perhaps the responsibility of Hamas, which exposes them quite deliberately. But the more civilians you kill, the more likely you are to lose the political war that always goes along with the military war. So it is a dilemma...
Here are Nadine and Pamela making their case:
We are living through the most horrific moment for the Jewish people in this century. It is also an especially crucial moment for the future of free speech.
On October 7, Israelis were raped, tortured, kidnapped, and massacred by invading Hamas terrorists. It was an attack on Jews on a scale not seen since the Holocaust. Instead of attempting to hide evidence of their evil, as the Nazis did, the terrorists posted it on social media, reveling in their sadism.
In response, on many American campuses, individuals and groups leapt to defend not Israelis—but the atrocities. A coalition of more than 30 Harvard student organizations quickly released an open letter stating they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
At Columbia University, tenured professor Joseph Massad wrote that Hamas’s barbarism was “awesome.” A Cornell history professor, Russell Rickford, said at a rally about the attacks, “It was exhilarating. It was energizing. . . . I was exhilarated.” (Rickford has since issued an apology.) At the University of Pennsylvania, students shouted, “Israel, Israel, you can’t hide: We charge you with genocide.”
At a pro-Hamas demonstration at the University of Washington, students chanted “There is only one solution,” while a Jewish student pleaded with administrators, “They want us dead. How are you allowing this?”
Imagine if, days after the murder of black worshippers in a Charleston church by a white supremacist, Proud Boys marched across campuses celebrating their deaths. It’s difficult to envision such a scenario, but were it to take place, administrators, professors, and students would undoubtedly be fervent in their moral condemnation.
So it is easy to appreciate the rage over today’s blatantly antisemitic rhetoric, particularly when our society wouldn’t tolerate, much less celebrate, similar expressions of delight after the brutal slaughter of other minorities. We feel that anger personally. But when it comes to calls to silence, fire, or even deport those who express such noxious views, we are also clear: we must resist it.
And if you haven’t already heard it, please listen to the latest episode of Honestly, which is perhaps the most powerful we have ever published, thanks to the tireless efforts of Candace Mittel Kahn and Suzy Weiss.
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Bari, Did you know Michelle Goldberg at the NYT? In her 10/20 editorial she said that she went to bed believing Israel bombed a hospital and now she is not sure. She is not a stupid woman. Why immediately trust Hamas without evidence, but when strong evidence to the contrary shows up she says she is not sure who to trust. Just curious if you have insight as to her thinking.
I am listening to the podcast of experiences in Israel on 10/7, having a difficult time of it.
I decided it was time to understand The Free Press and where it came from, deciding to revisit Bari’s resignation letter to The New York Times. Read it here: https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter
And so here we are, in fact witnessing not only the horrors brought about by barbarians, but Bari’s prescient notion of where media was going.
The podcast has me screaming inside: Israel cannot move fast enough to end this abomination, and I have no sense of mercy about it.