What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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- Create Date：2023-10-28 13:25:03
- Update Date：2025-09-14
- Status：finish
- Author：Elan Journo
- ISBN：B0CKZ43VJ5
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Summary
What is at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict？ What does justice demand of us in this conflict？ This book clarifies an intimidatingly complex issue—and upends conventional views about America’s stake in it。
In this book， Elan Journo explains the essential nature of the conflict， and what has fueled it for so long。 What justice demands， he shows， is that we evaluate both adversaries—and America's approach to the conflict—according to a universal moral individual liberty。 From that secular moral framework， the book analyzes the conflict， examines major Palestinian grievances and Israel's character as a nation， and explains what's at stake for everyone who values human life， freedom， and progress。 What Justice Demands shows us why America should be strongly supportive of freedom and freedom-seekers—but， in this conflict and across the Middle East， it hasn't been， much to our detriment。
In this book， Elan Journo explains the essential nature of the conflict， and what has fueled it for so long。 What justice demands， he shows， is that we evaluate both adversaries—and America's approach to the conflict—according to a universal moral individual liberty。 From that secular moral framework， the book analyzes the conflict， examines major Palestinian grievances and Israel's character as a nation， and explains what's at stake for everyone who values human life， freedom， and progress。 What Justice Demands shows us why America should be strongly supportive of freedom and freedom-seekers—but， in this conflict and across the Middle East， it hasn't been， much to our detriment。
Reviews
Yak
，
Elan Journo purports to offer a fresh approach to the subject， but its pages are filled with all the same tired Zionist propaganda that has always been used to justify Israel's crimes against the Palestinians。 Elan Journo purports to offer a fresh approach to the subject， but its pages are filled with all the same tired Zionist propaganda that has always been used to justify Israel's crimes against the Palestinians。 。。。more
Dwayne Roberts
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In a choice between life and death， freedom and tyranny， can there be any real debate？ The West has failed to make moral judgements in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict， and the result endangers the world。
Paul Taske
，
Wow。 For such a small volume， Journo’s “What Justice Demands” packs quite a punch。 The book， I think， is suitable for readers at any level of familiarity with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict。 Journo divides the book into three sections which cover， broadly speaking， a sketch of Israel in relation to other countries in the Middle East， Palestinian grievances against Israel as well as the essentials of the Palestinian movement， and， finally， what America’s role in this conflict has been and ought Wow。 For such a small volume， Journo’s “What Justice Demands” packs quite a punch。 The book， I think， is suitable for readers at any level of familiarity with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict。 Journo divides the book into three sections which cover， broadly speaking， a sketch of Israel in relation to other countries in the Middle East， Palestinian grievances against Israel as well as the essentials of the Palestinian movement， and， finally， what America’s role in this conflict has been and ought to be。 Journo offers historical context， relevant comparisons， short anecdotes， political and philosophical essentials， and much more throughout the book。 If you’re interested in this conflict and looking to read an interesting perspective then I highly recommend this book。 。。。more
Quinndara
，
This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and what America's foreign policy should be。 What does justice demand of this conflict？ The author shows why America should be strongly supportive of freedom and freedom seekers and not give moral sanction to those who aren't。 This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and what America's foreign policy should be。 What does justice demand of this conflict？ The author shows why America should be strongly supportive of freedom and freedom seekers and not give moral sanction to those who aren't。 。。。more
boaz galil
，
Highly recommended whether you are familiar with the subject or you are coming without any prior knowledge。
Ron Housley
，
What Justice Demands — America and the Israeli-Palestinian ConflictElan Journo ©2018A short BOOK REPORT by Ron HousleyRight from the opening words of the introduction， I found myself attracted to the careful tone that Journo has crafted， incorporating a delightful precision into his message。 He wastes no time in offering up a statement of his central point: that the answer to America’s foreign policy dilemma must involve a moral appraisal of both sides， something that has become foreign to Ameri What Justice Demands — America and the Israeli-Palestinian ConflictElan Journo ©2018A short BOOK REPORT by Ron HousleyRight from the opening words of the introduction， I found myself attracted to the careful tone that Journo has crafted， incorporating a delightful precision into his message。 He wastes no time in offering up a statement of his central point: that the answer to America’s foreign policy dilemma must involve a moral appraisal of both sides， something that has become foreign to American decision making。 For as long as I’ve been alive， the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been on the radar。 It fluctuates between being center-stage of world events and being just a continuous festering sore influencing other conflagrations。 The conflagrations， including 9/11 and the ensuing “wars，” erupt sporadically — always with threats and chants about annihilating Israel， with atomic bombs if need be。 What had not been clear to me until Journo’s book was just how culpable the US has been in making things worse: primarily by ignoring the instructions of justice in its many wayward policy decisions。 Every President in my lifetime has contributed to a worsening crisis， some more than others。 The common thread among all the US foreign policy mis-steps has been the willingness to sell out free peoples （Israeli and Palestinians alike）， while enabling monsters， over and over， decade after decade。 Elan Journo has made it clear that we are long overdue for an era where justice is finally embraced as a guideline in developing foreign policy。 Sadly， the current Administration appears particularly incapable of recognizing principles as such， let alone the principle of justice。 Trump is not unique in his absence of a clear， principled approach to foreign policy; a principled approach is so rare today that it might be widely unrecognizable even if it suddenly burst upon the scene。Journo asks us: what does justice require？ Then he points out that a rational answer includes recognizing that “no religious basis can ever be taken seriously” — because religion’s required denial of reason is itself an archetypical instance of dishonesty。 And so， religion and statism caused the Palestinian uprising in the first place; and religion assures continuation of the crisis as unreason is injected into every proposed solution。 Most readers will agree that the US repeatedly violated support for freedom and thereby damaged both sides in this conflict — empowering jihadism， terrorism， totalitarianism。 In other words: “…irrational American policy has inflamed the conflict…” （p。 xvii） — a policy devoid of concern with American interests。 I was impressed with the book’s repeated emphasis that what we’re up against in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is religious subjugation of the individual implemented by barbaric statist regimes vs。 a free society recognizing the sovereignty of its individual citizens。 But what America has done is to suspend moral judgment and to practice moral neutrality between these morally disparate parties。So， what’s to be done with the regimes hostile to freedom and contemptuous of human life？ What’s to be done with ISIS， with the PLO， with the Taliban， with North Korea， with Iran， with Saudi Arabia？* * * * * * * *There were some basic elements of Palestinian refugee history， critical to judging what policy to advocate， but elements where most of us today are just unaware。 Journo takes pains to report historical details that are often ignored by today’s media in their otherwise breathless coverage of anti-Israel protests in the Middle East and on the American campus。 For instance， consider a couple basic facts about the so-called Palestinian refugees。 After every other war when there were refugees， the total population of refugees gradually dwindles， owing to resettlement and to the numbers dying off。 How many of us understand that 700，000 Palestinian refugees in 1948 have ballooned to 5-million today？ How does that happen， the result of a single Arab-initiated war of conquest long ago？ It happens when those Arab states consign the refugees to camps of squalor， deny them citizenship， restrict their free movement， disallow them from working， and assure their never-ending dependence on welfare from the United Nations， so that the growing， manipulated hordes can be use as political bargaining chips over many squalid decades。 How many of us understand how this has happened？ How many of us understand America’s role in creating such a mess？ Thanks to the UN， the Palestinians are now demanding the “right of return” for over 6 times the number who were affected by the war in the first place（！）。Journo sums it up succinctly by pointing out how the UN， coordinating with the regimes who initiated the 1948 war， have mastered their objective of “mass-manufacturing victims and hostility。” It might be justice for today’s victimized refugee descendants to direct their grievance against the Arab regimes which initiated the war in the first place。 Our own media blames Israel and the US， instead。 I am shocked at how ill-informed I have been about the actual dynamic playing itself out in the Middle East。 Back in 1967 there was an opportunity for a real occupation， like the one the US imposed upon Japan in 1945。 But instead， Israel encouraged its defeated enemy to continue its anti-Israeli militarism， its anti-Israeli politics， its entire anti-Israeli culture。 Unsurprisingly， the outcome has been anti-Israeli bombings， missile barrages， and 12 year-old Palestinian children blowing themselves up in Jewish restaurants。 So why are we surprised to see non-stop anti-Israel sentiment on today’s college campuses？ What Journo’s book has done for me is to focus on his own contention that this the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a conflict over a piece of land， but rather is a conflict of a free society up against tyrannies sworn to destroy it; that focusing on the land conflict obscures the greater moral issue before us; and that the United States has consistently aided the side seeking to destroy the free society。 I can agree that the biggest problem here is that American policy makers do not take seriously what justice demands — they refuse to recognize that freedom is a greater moral value than the subjugation of individual citizens to the whims of a religious dictator。 I couldn’t help but worry about the current Administration’s offer of moral legitimacy to North Korea， once Journo reminded me how things turned out after President Bill Clinton served up a “willful disregard of moral inequality between Israel and the Palestinian movement” （p。203）， back when the Camp David/Oslo Accords were being fashioned。 There is cause to worry that moral sanctions bestowed upon any barbaric tyrant will strengthen and embolden the tyrant。We cannot be surprised when a tyrant holding an ideological commitment to destroy his sworn enemy would shower that enemy with waves of missiles if his sworn enemy were to bestow moral legitimacy upon him。 That’s exactly what’s happening with the Palestinians; we’ll have to wait to see how it turns out with North Korea。 Aggression and war erupt precisely when the negotiations to avoid war are devoid of asking: what does justice demand here？ On the Israel-Palestinian conflict， Journo has offered up a credible answer to the question of what justice requires。 His primary obstacle is that so few of today’s generation are conversant with the value of freedom itself。 。。。more
Eric Johnson
，
Terrific book！While I have followed the back and forth in the mideast since I was in high school （30 years ago！）， there were many relevant details to the history that I hadn't really pieced together until I had this book。 So for that alone， it was nice to finally tie together some loose ends in my own knowledge。But more important that the history， the author does a great at highlighting the _essential_ differences in the political and cultural values between Israel and the surrounding countries Terrific book！While I have followed the back and forth in the mideast since I was in high school （30 years ago！）， there were many relevant details to the history that I hadn't really pieced together until I had this book。 So for that alone， it was nice to finally tie together some loose ends in my own knowledge。But more important that the history， the author does a great at highlighting the _essential_ differences in the political and cultural values between Israel and the surrounding countries that continue to wish for its destruction。What really sets this book apart though isn't that it defends Israel based on an appeal to emotions or any sense of history， but that the text lays down a thoughtful and persuasive case as to why Israel's political and cultural structure is the closest thing to freedom - real freedom for the individual。 The author certainly acknowledges the contradictions and failings that exist in Israeli society， but also correctly points out （with examples） that it still is the only country in the region that offers the political foundation （free speech and private property） that's needed to continue to drive change to a more free and fair society。 。。。more
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what justice demands america and the israeli-palestinian conflict