2005/01/01 by Neta Bar, Eyal Ben‐Ari · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #War, Ethics, and Justification #Torture, Ethics, and Law #Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence #Humanity #Realm #Ideology #Distancing #Sociology #Criminology #Environmental ethics #Political science #Law #Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) #Politics #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1080/0143659042000322955
openalex publication_date 2005/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This article is an analysis of Israeli military snipers who served during the Al-Aqsa intifada. It takes issue with the scholarly consensus that, for such acts to take place, perpetrators have to somehow dehumanise their enemies. Based on interviews with 30 individuals, it shows that snipers do not always need to dehumanise their targets and that they experience killing in conflicting ways, both as pleasurable and as disturbing. The snipers simultaneously deploy distancing mechanisms aimed at dehumanising enemies and constantly recognise their basic humanity. The article ends on a cautionary note: violence should not be seen as only belonging to the realm of the pathological. Rather we must be aware of rules of legitimate violence, the culturally specific ideology of violence at work in specific cases. This kind of ideology may ‘humanse’ enemies but still classify them as opponents against which violence may be legitimately used.