Right to Exist
Encyclopedia
Right to Exist
: a Moral Defense of Israel's Wars is a book by Israeli historian Yaacov Lozowick
, the director of archives at the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
.
In the book, Lozowick draws on Just War
theory, and particularly on Michael Walzer
's work Just and Unjust Wars
, in an attempt to evaluate Israel's wars in the light of moral philosophy.
Ethan Bronner, in the New York Times, found the book a largely persuasive defence of Israel's positions morally and politically, but disputed the statement that there is no "cycle of violence", and that there is only one-sided aggression since Israel simply fights back against Palestinian terrorists. He felt this ignored the daily aggression that the 36-year occupation entails—the roadblocks, the searches, the confiscated land.
According to Chad Alan Goldberg writing in Contemporary Sociology
, Lozowick develops the following thesis: "What I found in my review of Israel's wars, was that Zionism has mostly tried to be moral. Sometimes it made mistakes, from which it generally (but not always) learned. While being continuously at war, it was surprisingly successful at all sorts of other projects, such as the building of a reasonably healthy society out of diverse communities." According to Goldberg, Lozowick concludes that all of Israel’s wars except the 1982 invasion of Lebanon have met the test of jus ad bellum.
Goldberg writes that "One of Lozowick's most important contributions is to refute the pernicious claim that Zionism is a form of European colonialism", and that another important contribution is the refutation of the charge that Israel is a racist state.
According to David Harsanyi, Lozowick argues that "Israelis have generally learned from their blunders, constantly reappraising their policies and their place in the world. Despite this self-criticism, Zionism is frequently rejected by classification regardless of its tangible policies, actions, or attempts at peace."
Daniel Mandel writes that Lozowick “concludes that ‘the will to murder Jews was never the result of oppression and can never be resolved by removing it,’ summarizing his view that the conflict between Arab and Jew is not the product of grievances that Israeli policy can assuage.”
Right to Exist
Right to Exist: a Moral Defense of Israel's Wars is a book by Israeli historian Yaacov Lozowick, the director of archives at the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority....
: a Moral Defense of Israel's Wars is a book by Israeli historian Yaacov Lozowick
Yaacov Lozowick
Yaacov Lozowick , is a German-born Israeli historian and writer. He was the director of the archives at Yad Vashem.-Biography:Yaakov Lozowick was born in 1957 in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. In 1980, he gained qualifications as a tourist guide. In 1982, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in history...
, the director of archives at the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
.
In the book, Lozowick draws on Just War
Just War
Just war theory is a doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin, studied by moral theologians, ethicists and international policy makers, which holds that a conflict ought to meet philosophical, religious or political criteria.-Origins:The concept of justification for...
theory, and particularly on Michael Walzer
Michael Walzer
Michael Walzer is a prominent American political philosopher and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he is co-editor of Dissent, an intellectual magazine that he has been affiliated with since his years as an undergraduate at...
's work Just and Unjust Wars
Just and Unjust Wars
Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations is a 1977 book by Michael Walzer published by Basic Books and still in print, now as part of the Basic Books Classics Series.The book resulted from Walzer's reflections on the Vietnam War...
, in an attempt to evaluate Israel's wars in the light of moral philosophy.
Ethan Bronner, in the New York Times, found the book a largely persuasive defence of Israel's positions morally and politically, but disputed the statement that there is no "cycle of violence", and that there is only one-sided aggression since Israel simply fights back against Palestinian terrorists. He felt this ignored the daily aggression that the 36-year occupation entails—the roadblocks, the searches, the confiscated land.
According to Chad Alan Goldberg writing in Contemporary Sociology
Contemporary Sociology
Contemporary Sociology is an academic journal in the field of sociology, published bimonthly by Sage Publications on behalf of the American Sociological Association since 1972. Contemporary Sociology publishes reviews and discussions of the most important recent works in sociology and in related...
, Lozowick develops the following thesis: "What I found in my review of Israel's wars, was that Zionism has mostly tried to be moral. Sometimes it made mistakes, from which it generally (but not always) learned. While being continuously at war, it was surprisingly successful at all sorts of other projects, such as the building of a reasonably healthy society out of diverse communities." According to Goldberg, Lozowick concludes that all of Israel’s wars except the 1982 invasion of Lebanon have met the test of jus ad bellum.
Goldberg writes that "One of Lozowick's most important contributions is to refute the pernicious claim that Zionism is a form of European colonialism", and that another important contribution is the refutation of the charge that Israel is a racist state.
According to David Harsanyi, Lozowick argues that "Israelis have generally learned from their blunders, constantly reappraising their policies and their place in the world. Despite this self-criticism, Zionism is frequently rejected by classification regardless of its tangible policies, actions, or attempts at peace."
Daniel Mandel writes that Lozowick “concludes that ‘the will to murder Jews was never the result of oppression and can never be resolved by removing it,’ summarizing his view that the conflict between Arab and Jew is not the product of grievances that Israeli policy can assuage.”