Adi Ophir (born 22 September 1951) is an Israeli philosopher who is a professor at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Ophir ).
Adi Ophir on Palestinian genocide hiding behind Palestinian expulsion (2004): “At some point in Ari Shavit’s interview with Beny Morris [Benny Morris (professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel], when the reader might think that Morris has already said the most terrible things, he brings up, in passing, the extermination of the Native Americans. Morris contends that their annihilation was unavoidable. "The great American democracy could not have been achieved without the extermination of the Indians. There are cases in which the general and final good justifies difficult and cruel deeds that are carried out in the course of history." Morris seems to know what the general and final good is: the good of the Americans, of course. He knows that this good justifies partial evil. In other words, under specific conditions, specific circumstances, Morris believes that it is possible to justify genocide. In the case of the Indians, it is the existence of the American nation. In the case of the Palestinians, it is the existence of the Jewish state. For Morris, genocide is a matter of circumstances, that can be justified under certain conditions, all according to the perceived threat that the people to be annihilated represent to the people carrying out the genocide, or just to their form of government. The murderers of Rwanda or Serbia, that are standing trial today in international courts for their crimes against humanity, might like to retain Morris as an advisor.” [1, 2].
[1]. Adi Ophir, “A response to Benny Morris. Genocide hides behind expulsion”, Counterpunch, 16-18 January 2004: http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/01/16/genocide-hides-behind-expulsion/ .
[2]. Adi Ophir, “Genocide hides behind expulsion”, republished (slightly edited) as Chapter 18 in “The Plight of the Palestinians. A long history of destruction”, edited by William Cook, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2010: http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/4047-the-plight-of-the-palestinians.html .