The Israeli government explains that it had to kill innocent people because they defended themselves when attacked.
16 Responses to The Logick of Kings
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Finkelstein on Flotilla Attack and the Gaza Blockade by ‘Lunatic State’ of Israel (Video) « Little Alex in Wonderland -
June 1, 2010
[…] Long, a heroic left-libertarian philosophy professor at Auburn University, calls this lunacy, “The Logick of Kings,” when: “The Israeli government explains that it had to […]
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Echoes and Mirrors » Daily Links -
June 1, 2010
[…] Reader: The Logick of Kings The Israeli government explains that it had to kill innocent people because they defended […]
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Is The Flotilla Story About Perception Or Reality? | LILA RAJIVA: The Mind-Body Politic -
June 4, 2010
[…] “The Israeli government explains that it had to kill innocent people because they defended themselves when attacked.” (Roderick Long, “The Logick Of Kings”) […]
…for trespassing with intent to harm. It’s an ugly story for sure, but the Israelis are not the only villains here.
“Trespassing” where?
On the piece of sea abutting the beaches of Gaza, which is claimed and controlled by Israel.
Does the band of armed goons known under the name of “Israel” have the right to thoroughly inspect every shipment before it reaches the band of armed goons known as “Hamas”? Maybe not, but that’s a whole ‘nother argument.
I believe it happened in international waters. Besides, since all states are illegitimate, all their claims to property are illegitimate.
It’s sad that once again innocents have, for reasons known only to them, flung themselves in the path of Israeli bullets. But, these sorts of unfortunate misunderstandings happen, from time to time.
We should try to feel Israel’s pain and suffering at this difficult time.
I’m going to try very hard to avoid spending the entire day reading the outrageous rationalizations people are offering. The apologists are disgusting, but it’s hard to look away.
Those were my exact thoughts when I was reading the article. If you or I armed ourselves and drove around a city at night and jumped onto the top of somebody’s car while they were in it and and yelled at them to get out, we’d be laughed out of court if we said “I was only defending myself”. But when governments and kings do it, it’s suddenly ok.
“At the U.N., Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the raid ‘murder conducted by a state’.”
Well, all violent offensives by a state are ‘murder conducted by a state,’ so that’s not saying much.
I think maybe you mean “killing” – states can legitimately defend people with violence sometimes (usually by accident!). Doesn’t “murder” usually mean something like “an unjustified killing”?
Yeah, I understand. I was attempting to make a pithy remark but it didn’t come out well.
Ah well sorry to steal your thunder then.
“…Israel scrambled to explain how what was meant to be a simple takeover of a civilian vessel went so badly awry.”
Yeah, funny how something like a “simple” act of aggression can suddenly take a wrong turn when the civilians on the vessel actually try to defend themselves from the aggressors rather than just get right on their knees and submit. I mean, what’s wrong with those people???
I think the matter becomes more complicated when we put on our methodological individualist hats. No such entity known as the Israeli government killed anyone; Israeli soldiers, primarily teenagers who were conscripted into the army, did the killing. As Phil Ochs once put it, “It’s always the old who lead us to the war, it’s always the young to fall.” It seems that all those directly involved with the confrontation deserve some sympathy.