Is war ever justifiable? Are certain acts permissible in war while others are forbidden? Did Israel's actions in the Gaza War break the norms of civilized conduct, as some people contend, or did they adhere to the rules of war? The recent Gaza War has reopened the question of what
actions are permissible in warfare. Since the late 19th century, international agreements have been made between states to limit and regulate what they may legitimately do when waging war (these are generally called the Geneva Conventions). No international agreement has been made that abolishes war or makes all wars illegitimate. The international agreements have regulated what the warring nations should or should not do in war. This includes the treatment of noncombatants during time of war and what actions an occupying power is permitted or prohibited to do in the occupied territory to the residents. (This is covered, among other things, by the Fourth Geneva Convention). Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifies how noncombatants and those injured in battle should be treated: Article 3
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions: 1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat1 by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out
of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted
court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as
indispensable by civilized peoples.
1) hors de combat - unable to continue fighting. There is a long tradition in Christian theology of discussions about what makes a war just or unjust. See the article on Just War Doctrine from Catholic.com on the history of the Catholic doctrine and the current statements in the catechism about what constitutes a just war. See also a statement made in 1983 by the Catholic bishops of the United States: Catholic Just War Theory. The Jewish tradition has historically had less to say about the morality of war, primarily because between the early second century C.E. and 1948, Jews as a people or nation have not been in a situation to wage war. (Individual Jews have, however, been soldiers in modern armies). Nonetheless, there are have been some discussions of the morality of war in the intervening years, most notably in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. (For a selection from the relevant section, see Kings and Their Wars). | Contemporary just war theory deals with two basic situations - whether a particular war or kind of war is justified (jus ad bello) and how a war should be conducted (jus in bello). Aviezer Ravitsky has recently (2006) published an interesting article on the issue of what wars may be justifiable in Jewish law, and whether there are any wars that Jewish law forbids to be waged. One of the most respected contemporary Jewish philosophers, Michael Walzer, has written on what kinds of actions are permitted or prohibited in war in The Ethics of Jewish War, has been published recently on the My Jewish Learning website. The My Jewish Learning website also has a number of other articles on issues of war and peace. The Meorot Journal (published by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a modern Orthodox rabbinical seminary in New York) has several articles in their 2006 issue on war and the ethics of war. One is called "Prohibited Wars in Jewish Religious Law," by Aviezer Ravitzky (see below for a PDF of the article, called "Ravitsky-Final.pdf"). The same journal also includes three articles on the subject of "Halakhah and Morality in Modern Warfare," by Aryeh Klapper ("Warfare, Ethics, and Jewish Law"), Benjamin Ish-Shalom ("'Purity of Arms' and Purity of Ethical Judgment"), and Michael J. Broyde ("Only the Good Die Young?"). See below for a PDF of all three articles - "Conversation - Final.pdf." Another
interesting article that surveys the Jewish ethics of war from the
Bible to the present day is "Judaism and the Ethics of War," by Norman
Solomon (an Orthodox rabbi in Britain), published in the International
Review of the Red Cross. The PDF of this article is also attached below
under the title "Solomon-Judaism and the ethics of war.pdf." Rabbis from a group called Brit Tzedek v’Shalom – Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace - call on President Obama to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. In this video, among others, Rabbi Capers Funnye also speaks for a two-state solution. |