The IDC

“SOLDIERS ARE CIVILIANS IN MILITARY UNIFORM, THEIR HUMAN DIGNITY AND LIFE WORTHY OF
PROTECTION, TOO” - Prof. Asa Kasher, Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair in Professional Ethics and Philosophy of Practice, Tel-Aviv University
many Palestinians, he reminded that it is a defensive measure, not a missile
or a 500 kilo bomb.
Certain speakers spoke of the specifics of fighting terror on site. Col. John
Chere Jr., army attaché at the US Embassy, Tel-Aviv, noted that soldiers
engaged in Iraq are confronting brutal enemies. “We must avoid falling
into the same trap they do. Legal and moral norms must be adopted as the
basis of what separates us from them.” To Lt. Col. (Ret.) Daniel Beaudoin,
Humanitarian Operations and Civil-Military advisor, Israel, the photos from
the Gaza war are symptomatic of the difficulties in presenting the difficulties
faced in confronting asymmetrical warfare. Mike Smith, describing the role
of the unit under his direction, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive
Directorate (CTED) of the United Nations, asserted that the UN has a part to
play in this fight. Yet, “my unit can only work with cooperation and does not
work as well when one member breaks the rules,” he said.
Col. Bentzi Gruber, deputy commander of an IDF Reserve Armored
Division, provided a front row perspective of the Gaza operation and the
dilemmas involved in implementing ethics in the field when targeting
ammunition warehouses and tunnels used for arms smuggling – all
deliberately located within civilian centers. He provided documentation of
detailed IDF procedures meant to avoid harming civilian noncombatants
by warning Gazans of coming military actions. He shared equally detailed
documentation of Hamas’ routine use of children as shields, videos
showing Hamas fighters literally dragging them by their shirts to cross a
street, as an example.
60 < IDC Winter 2010
Col. Bentzi Gruber, deputy commander
of an IDF Reserve Armored Division,
provided a front line perspective of the Gaza
operation and the ethical dilemmas involved
when targeting ammunition warehouses and
smuggling tunnels – all deliberately located
within civilian centers
Alain Bauer, president, French Strategic
Security Mission and co-founder, Defense
and National Security Council (CDSN),
France, noted that criminologists are neither
policemen nor judges, but must try to
understand what criminals and terrorists do
REFRAMING THE ISSUE – LEGITIMACY OVER LEGALITY
One tactic in facing these challenges, according to some of the speakers,
is a dramatic reframing of the issue. Prof. Asa Kasher, Laura Schwarz-
Kipp Chair in Professional Ethics and Philosophy of Practice, Tel-Aviv
University, stated that the whole framing of the debate as between security
and human rights is “utterly wrong.” Security has to do with protection
of human life, he stated. And there is no human right more basic, more
important or more sacred than protecting the human life of a citizen.
Kasher pointed to the distinction between combatants and civilians in the
Just War doctrine, stating that soldiers are “civilians in military uniform,
their human dignity and life worthy of protection, too,” including when they
deal with terrorists hiding behind innocent civilian non-combatants. “We
need a good justification for jeopardizing the life of a human being, and
Avi Dichter, former minister of Internal
Security and former head of the I.S.A., with
Institute supporter, Steven Stern
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Moshe Yaalon, deputy prime minister
and minister of Strategic Affairs, having an in-depth
conversation with Mr. Dan Meridor, deputy prime
minister and minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy
“IT IS NOW THE WINNER WHO PAYS
REPARATIONS, NOT THE LOSER, THE ENEMY
THUS LOSING ITS INCENTIVE TO END ITS
HOSTILITIES” - Dr. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum;
Taube Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution
that includes soldiers under a situation when the common practice of our
enemies is to wage war within civilian settings. If we think about a major
ingredient of democracy – protection of human dignity, for civilians and
soldiers alike, we have the duty then to protect citizens of a democratic states
waging war against it. Terror calls for a change in the parameters in order to
remain a democracy of superb standards on the one hand and provide our
citizens with an effective protection of our citizens on the other.”