Since fighting broke out between Hamas and Israel, many have called for “moral clarity,” including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. But the expression can be easily hijacked and used to assuage consciences and to legitimize actions that are repugnant to most concepts of morality.

There is little doubt that the Hamas attack involved acts of unspeakable brutality. We have seen them. Does that mean, then, that Israel is justified in whatever retaliatory measures it takes, no matter how brutal? Clearly this will mean inflicting grievous harm on the Palestinian occupants of Gaza, most of whom reject Hamas and who have endured all manner of deprivation for years in what Human Rights Watch calls an “open-air prison.”

The suffering, past and present, of the population of Gaza must figure into the moral equation. Israelis are outraged and want to hit back. It is hard to blame them. That was our response after Sept. 11. But it is dangerous thinking to suggest that, since innocent Israelis have died, innocent Gazans will also have to die and Israel will enjoy moral impunity. That is a slippery slope that leads, I fear, to the notion that might makes right.

Charles Brown
Owls Head