Why Habermas Doesn't Want to See the Genocide in Palestine

Making Comparisons in the Social Sciences

I would like to remind you of an assumption that I often make without expressing an opinion on a scientific and somewhat technical level. I always say that there is a laboratory in the social sciences. And what is that? "Comparison is the laboratory of social sciences." Don't you think so? It really is so, as I have often tried it. By the way, when making comparisons, the sine qua non of the laboratory is empiricism. 

As you know, the source of human knowledge, known as empiricism or empiricism, is personal experience. At the same time, according to this movement, the human mind is like a blank slate at birth. The human mind accesses knowledge according to the findings that emerge as a result of experiments and experiences.  This is a correct approach. The empiricism movement in philosophy argues that knowledge is gained through experience. According to empiricism, knowledge is imposed on the brain according to the principles of logic and the laws of thinking. It is the human mind that is eclectic and selective. In addition, the opposite idea of empiricism is rationalism. It is almost a control mechanism. According to empiricism, the mind accepts information formed by experiences and sensation. Empiricism is also opposed to the tradition of rationalism. (1) 

In the West, this divine order is called Checks and Balances. In terms of Political Science, this is the sine qua non rule, not only between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, but also between the center and the periphery.

From this perspective, from this point of view, let's talk about the course of the war between HAMAS and Israel, the so-called humanitarian break, the so-called ceasefire, the issue of making the ceasefire permanent and the issue of stopping the war. So how can this situation be analyzed? First of all, the world public opinion seems to be largely in agreement that what is happening in Palestine is genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity. This situation does not even need to be put into a laboratory. Secondly, the voices of reasonable people in Western capitals can now drown out the voices of genocidaires. Therefore, Genocide and Ethnic Cleansers are unable to take to the streets. This is indeed a positive data. What we are watching shows this to a great extent, our minds perceive this developing situation as positive evolutionary information. So, with all this in front of you in a positive way, can something be said about seeing how the academia in Germany is being silenced, while lawyers are standing up in the countries of reasonable people for Palestine? Of course something can be said.  First of all, can it be explained that there is no element of intent and motive behind dropping thousands of tons of bombs, using banned weapons, blocking humanitarian aid, leaving hungry, thirsty, without energy, without narcosis, without medicine in their hospitals, on a small landmass of 360 km2 under blockade? Let us emphasize one thing in capital letters. WHILE ALL THIS IS HAPPENING, THE WORLD IS WATCHING THE GENOCIDE ON LIVE BROADCAST. One cannot help but ask. Where are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the articles of the Geneva Convention that cannot be activated? If you ask me this question directly, I will tell you. All the normative discourses and the articles of the documented documents that apply only to the West have all become garbage. So now we have to ask, don't we? What happened in the West, which was crowned with the renaissance and reform movements, was institutionalized and functioning? Or so we thought. Maybe they are like that in themselves. If you try to criticize Israel, you are immediately labeled and declared anti-Semitic. 

I know this from myself. This does not only apply to academia, of course. It also applies to the media. You see that the leading heavyweights of the media and academia are in a hurry to hide behind something and you cannot make sense of it. Let's make sense of it. Let me put it in one word: Pragmatism. It is an Anglo-Saxon invented philosophical approach in which utility is a prerequisite. Utilitarianism. A philosophical view that adopts and defends that the truth or validity of an idea can be measured by the practical results of that idea. Utilitarianism and materialism are at the core of this philosophical view, so? Let's say "pocket first, prestige later" and summarize. Here is an example from today. What do you make of Jürgen Habermas, one of the world-renowned members of the German school, and three other philosophers, when they say that Israel's attacks "lack genocidal intent" (2)? 

Habermas Statement on the Principles of Solidarity

Yes, on November 13, 2023, four academics from different universities in Germany issued a very interesting, almost anti-Palestinian statement on the human tragedy in Gaza. The statement, titled "Statement on the Principles of Solidarity" and signed by Nicole Deitelhoff, Rainer Forst, Klaus Günther and Jürgen Habermas, mainly drew attention to the potential dangers of the issue for German society. Let us look at the parts of the statement that are intertwined with the unscientific theory of pragmatism: (3) 

"The democratic ethic on which Germany's political culture is based must defend Jewish life and Israel's right to exist. This is essential given the country's Nazi past. The signatories also emphasized, and this is the most interesting point of the declaration, that the Israeli method should not be called genocide. Nazi Germany's genocidal method of wiping out an entire race is unique in history. The use of the term genocide outside of the Holocaust weakens the nature of this crime against humanity committed by the Germans in the past."

The Best Palestinian is a Dead Palestinian

So far, so good, but doesn't the "Israeli Zionazi leadership" specifically use the elements of intention and motivation, which are among the most important parameters of the crime of genocide? Yes, it does. On January 12, 1951, it explicitly uses these two elements of the United Nations International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The motto "The best Palestinian is a dead Palestinian" alone constitutes the element of intent. They have demonstrated and are demonstrating this on almost every occasion. 

The crime of genocide is undoubtedly individual. Criminal Law, as is known, envisages the direct punishment of individuals. Therefore, the perpetrators of the crime are known. It is the "United Zionazi Administration of the USA-Israel".  It is Biden, Netenyahu, Gantz. Calls for the destruction of HAMAS are no different from calls for the eradication of Gaza from the face of the earth, as observed in the behavior of the Israel Defense Forces on the ground. It is the element of intent. Let us not forget that HAMAS is a political movement that won the 2006 elections in front of UN observers, it is the organization of the Palestinian people, its resistance, its struggle for its rights and its land. 

The second element of intent is motive, i.e. incentive, motivation. Looking at the Israeli people as a whole, is there a phenomenon of incentive? Yes, there is. The lines "Aza aza beyt kravot" (Gaza, Gaza is a graveyard), "Lo niş'ar sham yeladim" (There will be no children left there) (4) in the songs that Israelis sang while the genocide was going on in Gaza are a complete incitement. This is brought to Habermas' attention. 

Conclusion

Yes, dear readers, after all this, I would like to say that the world public opinion demands and expects that the rulers of the "US-Israeli United Zionazi Regime" who committed the crime of genocide be tried and punished. However, I regret to say that seeking justice in an international legal system that lacks the power of sanction is tantamount to only hoping for help from the scales of justice.   In today's environment where international law has been destroyed, the world community is undoubtedly aware that this inhuman tragedy cannot be stopped only by the threat of judicial action. Today, more than anything else, an international presence with the power to sanction is needed to establish a justice system where the right is strong, not the strong. As a reminder, "the scales are useless without the sword", dear readers. 

Footnotes

(1) "What is empiricism? What does empiricism mean? The characteristics, founder and representatives of the Empirism movement in philosophy" Hürriyet Newspaper, November 03, 2020 ; https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/egitim/empirizm-nedir-deneycilik-ne-demek-felsefede-empirizm-ampirizm-akimi-ozellikleri-kurucusu-ve-temsilcileri-41652693#:~:text=Philosophy%20Deneycilik%2C%20empirizm%20ya%20da,Bilgiler%20de%20buna%20g%C3%B6re%20edinilmektedir./ Accessed on November 26, 2023/

(2) Betül Soysal Bozdoğan, "Hukukçular Ayakta for Palestine", Diriliş Postası, November 25, 2023, p.9

(3) Osman Erden, "Habermas, Gaza and Genocide", Politikyol; https://www.politikyol.com/habermas-gazze-ve-soykirim/ Access Date 26 November 2023/

(4) Süleyman Ceran, "Notes from the Aqsa Flood-1" , Milat Newspaper, November 25, 2023, p.6