No one doubts that after the Second World War Germany was right to restore stolen property to Jewish families or compensate them for its loss. The taking of property was manifestly an instance of theft—according to natural justice, if not according to Nazi law. This is all too often impossible where harms have been caused by ancient or distant wrongs. Is everybody who descends from those who were once enslaved or colonised still being harmed by those now ancient and distant misdeeds? Can we offer a clear enough account of the causation of current harms to tell where compensation is owed?

Source: The North Africa Journal February 10, 2020 14:37 UTC