Thoughts
A MONTHLY MIX OF IDEAS
George Cantor's Reality Check column will return next week
Pr: Tiller's Murder
New York/JTA
D
r. George Tiller was murdered
May 31 because he performed
abortions. Those who defend
such actions justify them by claiming it
is entirely appropriate to kill a person in
order to prevent him from killing other
people. Unless one is a genuine pacifist,
the argument that we kill one murderer to
prevent the murder of many innocents is
not an unreasonable argument.
But are those who defend such behavior
when it comes to doctors who perform
abortions correct in their application of
that ethical principle? It's important to
ask this question, upsetting as it may be,
because the fundamental claim (no pun
intended) made in defense of Dr. Tiller's
murderer claims to follow that logic.
If correct, it might justify the actions of
Dr. Tiller's accused killer and his defenders.
Simply asserting that they are wrong
is both as pointless and arrogant an
approach as theirs — relying on the "obvi-
ous" truth of one position and the wicked-
ness or stupidity of the other.
According to Jewish law, the principle
that the murderers argue is, in fact, cor-
rect. It's called the law of the rodef, or
pursuer. Based on a rule found in Exodus
Dr. Tiller's murderer prosecuted to
22 and explained by the
the full extent of the law, and even
Babylonian Talmud on
more importantly bring about an
page 73a, the law actually
end to such murders, consider the
demands that one pre-empt
claims made by the murderers. We
a murderer by killing him
must because actually our views
before he commits his crime.
are ultimately not so different. Yes,
Based on these facts, one
I really mean that.
might come to the conclusion
If we truly believed that abor-
that the events in Kansas
tions were murder and had the
actually have the biblical and
Rabbi Brad
ability to stop someone from
religious grounding that sup-
Hirschfield
performing them, would we not
porters of accused murderer
Special
be justified in using all available
Scott Roeder claim.
Commentary
means to do so? Would we not want
They are wrong, at least
someone to do just that if a person
from the perspective of
was heading off to kill one of our kids?
Jewish law.
So how would you respond to someone
Under no circumstances is a fetus con-
who genuinely believes that is the case
sidered a human life, according to Jewish
in this incident? What arguments can be
law. Ironically, Maimonides, calling a fetus
used to dissuade the future murderers
a rodef, uses this law to explain why a
from following a path to what they imag-
baby must be aborted if the pregnancy
ine to be a justifiable homicide and most
endangers the mother's life. While Jewish
of us know to be murder?
law is no fan of abortion, and does not
One approach would be to work with
sanction abortion on demand regardless
hardcore pro-life advocates, such as
of circumstances, it is never murder.
Operation Rescue, who claim not to sup-
Now I have no expectation or desire
port these murders. We need real alliances
to see Jewish law become the law of the
to protect the sanctity of those lives that we
land. Nor do I expect to convince radical
all agree are actual lives. We need to estab-
Christian murderers to change their ways
lish relationships that empower them to use
because of a Jewish reading of scripture.
their own credibility in an effort to end the
But I think that all of us who want to see
killing and assaults. If they don't, then at
least we smoke out their true views.
Ultimately, though, we need to reframe
the debate from one about abortion to one
about democracy. The debate needs to be
framed as being about nothing less than
democracy in America. When zealots act
as they did in Kansas, they are making
war on America, upon the Constitution
and the rule of law. Whether pro-life or
pro-choice (terms that I don't even like,
and which fail to capture the nuance of
most Americans' position on this issue),
attacks like the one on Dr. Tiller are an
attack on us all.
We can, and probably will, disagree
about abortion for a long time to come. We
may well be divided precisely because we
all cherish life, but cannot find a common
definition of when it begins.
The one thing we must share is a com-
mitment to keeping abortion from being
the cutting edge of a crusade that trades
our shared democracy for some people's
theocracy. El
motivated?
political goals.
"It can be seen that some of
Israeli Arabs, comprising 20
the
frustration experienced by
percent of the population, do
the Arab citizens from the fail-
learn about the Holocaust in
ure to achieve equality engen-
school. They live in a country
ders a resistance to recognizing
where the premier Holocaust
the Holocaust," Ali Haider,
memorial and remembrance
co-director of Sikkuy, a leading
institution, Yad Vashem in
nonprofit advocatng for greater
Jerusalem, is frequented by
equality between Israel's Jewish
school groups and dignitar-
and Arab citizens, told me.
ies visiting from around the
Kenneth
The observation has valid-
world. And in Israel, anyone is
Bandler
ity for Smooha, who says,
likely to encounter in the public
Special
"When they say, `There was no
space older Jews with numbers
Commentary
Holocaust, they are protesting.
on their arms. So how can a
They are saying,`I am not giving legiti-
significant percentage of Israeli Arabs be
macy to the Jewish state.'"
so unaware?
The survey also found a significant drop
With all the resources readily avail-
in the percentage of Israeli Arabs who
able in Israel, why even three years ago
recognize Israel's right to exist as an inde-
did more than a quarter of the country's
pendent state, from 81.1 percent in 2003
Arab citizens doubt the Holocaust? What
to 53.7 percent in 2009.
underlies the surge of 12 percent reflected
Jewish-Arab relations in Israel have
in the new survey? Further, according to
long been complicated. Arab citizens in
Smooha, 37 percent of Arabs with higher
Israel enjoy the fruits of Israeli democracy,
education are among the deniers.
including the right to vote and serve in the
Do they honestly believe the Holocaust
Knesset. But longstanding economic and
is a fraud, or is the reaction politically
social inequities, notably unequal budgets
allocated to Jewish and Arab communi-
ties, have dampened their aspirations
of becoming full participants in Israeli
society.
Refuting Israel's legitimacy by deny-
ing the Holocaust must be emphatically
countered. Israel's Arab citizens presum-
ably could help. After all, Israeli Arabs,
especially the younger generations who
grew up in Israel and are fluent in Hebrew,
are best positioned of any Arabs to under-
stand the Jewish psyche.
On the other hand, Israeli Arabs know
which emotional buttons to press if
some choose to hurt the Jewish majority
without using violence. Responding to a
survey questioner is one tactic and, in this
instance, led to headlines emphasizing the
hurtful result on the Holocaust.
What Smooha's survey has revealed
needs urgent attention by Arabs and Jews,
working in their own communities as well
as together. ❑
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is the author of "You
Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right:
Finding Faith Without Fanaticism" and presi-
dent of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for
Learning and Leadership.
6
New York/JTA
T
he last place one might expect
to find Holocaust deniers is in
Israel. Yet a new University of
Haifa survey shows that an astonish-
ing 40.5 percent of Israeli Arabs say the
Holocaust did not happen.
The finding is in the latest Index of
Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel, an annual
survey conducted by Professor Sammy
Smooha since 2003. When he first posed
the Holocaust question in 2006, 28 percent
of Arab citizens doubted its authenticity.
Holocaust denial is prevalent across
the Arab and Muslim worlds. Iran's
regime, especially President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, has made questioning the
Holocaust a centerpiece of its ideology,
rarely missing an opportunity to proclaim
falsehoods about one of the most thor-
oughly documented periods in history.
In Gaza and West Bank schools admin-
istered by the Palestinian Authority, the
Nazi campaign to murder 6 million Jews
still is not taught. Here, as with the Iranian
regime, truth is debunked to advance
Kenneth Bandler is director of communications
for the American Jewish Committee.
June 25 2009 Cl