David Burrell, C.S.C. in Terrorism and International Justice, ed. James Sterba (Oxford University Press, 2003), pp. 88-100.

Burrell focuses on Israel/Palestine, showing how the occupation of Palestinian territory, in the wake of the 1967 war, without offering citizenship to those living in the territory occupied, has created a volatile contradiction at the heart of Israeli polity. The situation is not unlike that which triggered civil war in the United States, as the juxtaposition of “all human beings are created equal” with the classic compromise that “slaves shall count as 3/5 of a person” culminated in violence. Unable to incorporate so many Palestinians and demographically remain a Jewish state, by ruling over those whom it refuses to so incorporate, Israel’s self-description as a “Jewish state” is ethically challenged, as recent events have dramatically borne out.

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