10/27/2024–|Last updated: 10/27/202411:22 PM (Mecca time)
Genocide is often referred to as the “crime of crimes,” a name coined after the Holocaust against Jews in Nazi Germany during World War II, and is limited to a very specific form of mass slaughter that deserves the highest degree of condemnation.
With this definition, Nicole Naria, political and community affairs correspondent for the American website Vox, began her report, asking whether this definition necessarily applies to Israel.
She said that Israel – in whose territory “the descendants of many Holocaust survivors live” – should not have committed such a crime, and now human rights groups, academics and even South Africa are accusing it of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
These are not new accusations
She added that these accusations are not new, as they spread widely shortly after Israel responded to the Al-Aqsa flood, which was launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) against it on October 7, 2023.
She added that the question that arises after a year is whether the evidence supporting these allegations has increased.
In the context of her answer, Naria stated that she and her colleague Sigal Samuel had conducted – in October of last year – an interview with researchers to delve into and study the “allegations” of genocide, noting that some of them were at that time ready to describe what was happening in Gaza “categorically” called it genocide.
But most were hesitant, arguing that proving genocide requires meeting high standards under international law. Many of them said that terms such as “crimes against humanity” or “war crimes,” which are equally important under international law, had likely been committed, but they refrained from ruling on genocide in Gaza.
It is genocide
According to the American website, the discussion has developed since that interview was conducted, with the worsening situation in Gaza, which turned into rubble, and the number of Palestinian martyrs now rising to more than 40,000.
The correspondent explained that a report by the International Refugee Organization published in September revealed evidence of the existence of “a severe hunger crisis in Gaza, and indications of the occurrence of famine-like conditions in the northern regions during the first half of 2024,” and one of the reasons for this is due to Israel’s obstruction of the delivery of… Aid to the besieged sector.
In light of the recent developments resulting from the extension of the war to Lebanon after Israel “tightened its grip” on the occupied West Bank, the site’s correspondent said that she returned to those researchers to find out whether their previous views on the genocide in Gaza had changed.
She responded that of the five researchers, most of them are now convinced that the crimes committed in the Gaza Strip meet the legal requirements to be described as genocide.
According to the Fox report, if an official ruling on genocide is issued by the International Court of Justice, this could have serious legal and political consequences.
Definition of genocide
There are different ways to define the concept of genocide, but the International Court of Justice is only concerned with its legal definition under the Genocide Convention, the international treaty criminalizing the practice that entered into force in 1951 and has been ratified by 153 countries, including Israel and its closest ally, the United States.
Under the Genocide Convention, the definition of genocide is: “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, racial or religious group.”
Based on this definition, Raz Segal, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University in New Jersey, said, “I fully support describing the Israeli attack on Gaza as a typical example of genocide.”
I no longer hesitate
Adam Jones, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, said: “Any early hesitation I had about applying the genocide label to the Israeli attack on Gaza has dissipated over the past year of human slaughter and the obliteration of homes, infrastructure and communities.”
Ernesto Verdeja, professor of political science and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, followed suit, describing the Israeli army’s operations as genocide.
The site’s correspondent pointed out that the main turning point in the opinions of Verdeja and many other experts in the field of human rights was the Israeli ground invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip last May.
You must act immediately
It concluded that it was unclear how the International Court of Justice would issue its ruling. Even if the court does not issue a ruling of genocide, that does not prevent the international community from taking action to stop what is happening in Gaza.
“I don’t think we should sit idly by and wait for these institutions to tell us yes or no to genocide when we all see genocide before our eyes,” said Segal, a professor at Stockton University.
He stressed that “the process of radical change in the regime has already begun, and that Israel has become very isolated today in the world, and so has the United States as well.”
