I’m a lone gunman, and I kill someone because and only because he’s black, or Indian, or Jewish, or Palestinian. Have I committed genocide? Clearly not. Suppose there’s a number of us, and we kill a number of people because… Read More ›
Palestine
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
By some accounts the war between Palestinians and Zionists has been going on since 1947, by others since ’67. But by all accounts it’s the war that’s never going to end. There’ve been battles: ’48, ’56, ’67, ’73. Coupled with… Read More ›
TAKING SIDES
It’s hard sometimes for students of history to remember they’re also living in history. That I’m no exception I find embarrassing. I’m embarrassed because I’m upset about Ukraine and Palestine. But why? National borders change with the alacrity of the… Read More ›
LEDICE
There’s a civil war, though not a very civil one, that’s been going on in the southern Levant at least since 1948. Let’s see if we can identify the combatants. But first a disclaimer. Any attempt to define the parties… Read More ›
MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING
Occam’s Razor advises us never to multiply entities beyond what’s needed to explain what needs explaining. Is this because the simpler explanation is more likely to be the correct one? If so, what would explain that? So no. Rather it’s… Read More ›
BUT THAT COULD CHANGE
What is it to win a war? Well, it’s for the war to have achieved its objective. The objective of Israel’s neighbours in the wars of ’48, ’56, ’67 and ’73 was to push the Israelis back into the sea…. Read More ›
THE GENOCIDE DEBATE REVISITED
Harris and Trump are calling each other a fascist. But either claim will die the death of a thousand qualifications. So it’s not a claim. It’s what Wittgenstein would call a move in a language game called political rhetoric. Fair… Read More ›
FROM THE YES-BUT-DON’T-SAY-IT FILE
The core axiom driving any cognising organism is to treat like cases alike. And this, of course, requires that it distinguish between this collection of things and that collection of things. These distinctions are not always easy. Are we in… Read More ›
ATROCITY VS HISTORY
When it happened a long time ago it’s called history. When it happened a shorter time ago, or it’s happening today, it’s called an atrocity. Think about what it was like to be an Amalekite. Fast forward to the Viking… Read More ›
APARTHEID AND GENOCIDE
The reason they’re called the Abrahamic religions is that Jews, Christians and Moslems share a common core conception of god. But let’s not be too quick about what follows from this. You and I might share a common conception of… Read More ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 