[lit-ideas] Re: Do You Have a Moral Urgency?
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:48:22 -0400
Simon Ward:
"Phil, you're very close to presenting an argument for genocide. Is that
what you intend to put forward?"
I am arguing that when one is counting the dead, and there is no clear
distinction between combatant and non-combatant, that one cannot clearly
identify civilian deaths.
The blurring of this distinction has other consequences. The
congregation that I belong to has sponsored a Palestinian man here in
Canada. He came almost ten years ago, leaving his wife and two children
in a UN refugee camp in Lebanon. He came to Canada as a refugee because
Hezbollah was threatening his family if he did not join. He was a
Christian and a pacifist and so refused and fled. At first his claim
was denied because it wasn't at all clear that he had not joined
Hezbollah. How could he prove he did not belong to Hezbollah when there
was no clear way of telling who belonged? After a number of years,
Immigration Canada finally allowed that he most likely was not a member
of Hezbollah and gave their approval for granting him citizenship.
However, CSIS, the Canadian spy agency, blocked his application since
they hadn't been convinced. And that is where things stand today. CSIS
has told us that they will have an answer for him some time this Fall.
In the mean time, his family waits. The Israelis bombed a part of the
camp very close to his family. He insists that there were no Hezbollah
in the camp. He is a friend of mine but he has no love for the Israelis
and I don't know how he could know that Hezbollah doesn't have a
presence in the camp.
The fact that Hezbollah blends into the civilian population has serious,
often fatal, consequences for those who, in some cases, want nothing to
do with Hezbollah.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
