The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to GazaGroundbreaking exploration of the philosophy underpinning Western humanitarian intervention The notion of a humanitarian “lesser evil” has become instrumental in justifying the West’s military adventures. It informs obscene calculations determining how much collateral damage is permissible in conflict. It determines the minimum requirements of survival imposed upon an occupied territory. As Eyal Weizman shows in this brilliant exploration of forensic architecture, this can be seen in particular in the regime imposed upon Gaza by the state of Israel. Examining the damage following the 2010 bombardment, he pieces together the systematic process of destruction, revealing the political atrocity within the debris. The way he gathers together the evidence forces us to rethink our understanding of justice and human rights in the modern world. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Arendt in Ethiopia | 27 |
The Best of All Possible Walls | 65 |
Only the Criminal Can Solve the Crime | 99 |
The Destruction of Destruction | 139 |
Common terms and phrases
Adi Ophir analysis Arendt attack become Beit Sourik Bernard-Henri Lévy Bob Geldof bombing bulldozing calculations civilian casualties civilian deaths conflict contemporary context Dahla damage Darfur Date of destruction Date of inspection destroyed buildings District/municipality ethical Ethiopia experts Eyal Weizman famine fetishism forces forensic architecture Garlasco Gaza Strip genocide Hannah Arendt High Court Human Rights Watch humanitarian present humanitarian space ICRC international humanitarian law international law investigation Iraq Israel Israeli Israeli military Jerusalem killed Korem Kosovo lawfare lesser evil logic Marc Garlasco material Method of destruction Michal Givoni Michel military lawyers NGOs number of civilian Number of units objects organizations Palestinian Photograph political population potential practice refugee camps regime relation Rony Brauman route rubble ruins September 2009 shift structures targeted tarian technologies Thomas Keenan threshold tion totalitarian violations wall war crimes witness zone رقم