Global InformationPalestinian genocide accusation information
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The State of Israel has been accused of carrying out or inciting genocide against Palestinians during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This accusation has been linked to the conceptualization of Israel as a settler colonial state.[1][2][3] Those who believe Israel's actions constitute genocide typically point to the phenomena of anti-Palestinianism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism in Israeli society, and they cite the Nakba, the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the 2014 Gaza War and the 2023 Israel–Hamas war as instances of genocide.[4][5]
International law and genocide scholars have accused Israeli officials of using dehumanising language.[6][7][8] During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Israeli Holocaust historian Omer Bartov warned that statements made by high-ranking Israeli government officials "could easily be construed as indicating a genocidal intent".[9]
On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel's conduct in Gaza during the 2023 war amounted to genocide.[10][11] South Africa asked the ICJ to issue provisional measures, including ordering Israel to halt its military campaign in Gaza.[10] The Israeli government agreed to defend itself at the ICJ proceedings, while also denouncing South Africa's actions as "disgraceful" and accusing it of abetting "the modern heirs of the Nazis".[12] South Africa's case has been supported by a number of countries.[13][14] On 26 January 2024, the ICJ issued a preliminary ruling finding that the claims in South Africa's filing were "plausible" and issued an order to Israel requiring them to take all measures within their power to prevent acts of genocide and to allow basic humanitarian services into Gaza.[15]
Israel and the United States have rejected the assertion that Israel is engaging in genocide.[16][17] While some scholars describe Palestinians as victims of genocide, others argue that they are not victims of genocide, but rather of ethnic cleansing,[18][19][20] politicide, spaciocide, cultural genocide or similar.[21][22][a] Some critics of the accusation have argued that the charge that Israel is committing genocide is an assertion commonly made by anti-Zionists with the aim of delegitimising or demonising Israel.[26]
- ^ Rashed & Short 2012, pp. 1143, 1148–1149.
- ^ Docker 2012, p. 2.
- ^ El-Affendi 2024, p. 1; Short 2016, p. 10; Shaw 2013, p. 4; Rashed, Short & Docker 2014, pp. 13–15; Usher 2006, pp. 10–14, 28–29; Saldívar 2010, pp. 826–827, 828–829; Khoury 2018, pp. 117–118; Nijim 2020, pp. 41–47; Samudzi 2024, pp. 7–8; United Nations 2022; Adhikari et al. 2018, p. 148; Üngör 2024, pp. 3–4: "or Israeli settler colonial genocide"
- ^ Center for Constitutional Rights 2016, p. 6.
- ^ Eghbariah 2023; Shaw 2013, pp. 1–7; Nijim 2023, pp. 173–174, 176–177
- ^ Docker 2012, p. 16; Munayyer 2015; Bruneau & Kteily 2017; Schiavenza 2018; Kuttab 2023; Wintour 2023
- ^ "Public Statement: Scholars Warn of Potential Genocide in Gaza". Third World Approaches to International Law Review. 17 October 2023. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023.
Statements of Israeli officials since 7 October 2023 suggest that beyond the killings and restriction of basic conditions for life perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza, there are also indications that the ongoing and imminent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are being conducted with potentially genocidal intent. Language used by Israeli political and military figures appears to reproduce rhetoric and tropes associated with genocide and incitement to genocide. Dehumanising descriptions of Palestinians have been prevalent. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared on 9 October that "we are fighting human animals and we act accordingly". He subsequently announced that Israel was moving to "a full-scale response" and that he had "removed every restriction" on Israeli forces, as well as stating: "Gaza won't return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything." On 10 October, the head of the Israeli army's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, addressed a message directly to Gaza residents: "Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water, there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell". The same day, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari acknowledged the wanton and intentionally destructive nature of Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza: "The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy."
- ^ "Corrections: Jan. 24, 2024". The New York Times. 24 January 2024. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024.
Gaza won't return to what it was before. There will be no Hamas. We will eliminate everything.
- ^ Bartov, Omer (10 November 2023). "Opinion | What I Believe as a Historian of Genocide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ a b Roelf, Wendell; Sterling, Toby (29 December 2023). "South Africa files genocide case against Israel at World Court". Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ "South Africa launches case at top UN court accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza". AP News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ Lazaroff, Tovah (2 Jan 2024). "Israel to defend itself at Int'l Court of Justice's genocide hearing on Gaza". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
The New Arab 2024 o195was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^
- "Bolivia to support South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel". The Jerusalem Post. 8 January 2024. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- Shamim 2024
- Human Rights Watch 2024
- Salem, Mohammed; Al-Mughrabi, Nidal; Anthony, Deutsch (10 January 2024). "Israel to face Gaza genocide charges at World Court". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
Colombia and Brazil expressed their support of South Africa late Wednesday.
- Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024
- Khaliq, Riyaz ul (10 January 2024). "'Morally, politically:' Indonesia backs South Africa against Israel at ICJ". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
- "Iran backs South Africa's Gaza genocide case against Israel at ICJ". Anadolu Agency. 11 January 2024. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
- "Iraq backs South Africa's case against Israel at ICJ". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ "Read the I.C.J. ruling". The New York Times. 26 January 2024. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ Magid, Jacob (7 November 2023). "White House spokesman appears to reject claim Israel committing 'genocide'". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023.
- ^ Sales, Ben (27 May 2021). "People are accusing Israel of genocide. These human rights lawyers beg to differ". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ Pappé, Ilan (2006). The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-78074-056-0.
- ^ Shaw 2013, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Rashed, Short & Docker 2014, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Rashed, Short & Docker 2014, pp. 12–15; Lentin 2008, p. 10; Lentin 2010, pp. 20–21: "While neither 'categorial murder' nor genocide, the Nakba has been described as 'ethnic cleansing' (Pappé, 2006) or 'spaciocide' (Hanafi, 2005), perpetrated by self categorising 'Jews', 'Zionists', or 'Israelis', against people they categorised as 'Arabs'."
- ^ Corn, David (3 November 2023). "During a Trip to Israel, Mike Johnson Connected With Far-Right Extremists". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
During the trip, Johnson observed, "You hear in the US about how the Palestinians or the Arab people are oppressed in these areas, and have these terrible lives. None of that is true. We didn't see any of it."
- ^ Lentin 2010, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Pappé, Ilan (28 January 2008). "Genocide in Gaza, Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank". The Indypendent. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024 – via Countercurrents.
- ^ Lentin 2010, p. 142.
- ^ Hirsh, David (2015). "Anti Zionism and Antisemitism: Cosmopolitan Reflections" (PDF). The Yale Papers: Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective: 106–107. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
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