When it comes to Israel, there is a massive amount of conflicting information in the news. At the core of the conflict are two completely different views of the land. One view supports the Jewish people's right to have their own secure home in Israel. The other view rejects Israel's right to exist and argues that the land belongs entirely to the Arab Palestinian people.
This fight isn't just happening on the battlefield. It is being fought in universities, international organizations, the media, and online. Because of this, a whole vocabulary of loaded words has entered everyday conversation, shaping how millions of people view Israel before they ever look at the actual history or the law.
In this series, we are going to break down these terms one by one. We'll look at where they came from, what they originally meant, how they are being used today, and whether the facts actually back them up.
Today, we are looking at the term genocide.
The word genocide was coined in 1944 to describe the horrors of the Holocaust and was officially defined by the United Nations in 1948. Legally, genocide requires two strict things to happen at the same time: first, specific destructive acts against a national, ethnic, or religious group; and second, the proven deliberate intent to completely destroy that group. Civilian casualties and the destruction inherent in urban warfare can hardly be called genocide unless that specific intent to wipe out a people is proven.
The reality on the ground is that when critics accuse Israel of genocide, they are engaging in geopolitical gaslighting. Look at how the Israeli military actually operates. Armies committing genocide do not issue advanced evacuation warnings, create humanitarian safe zones, or help run polio vaccination campaigns for the civilian population. Furthermore, fighting a terrorist group that intentionally hides behind civilians in schools and hospitals causes terrible loss of life. But that is hardly genocide.
The bottom line is that applying the word genocide to a democratic nation formed after experiencing genocide that is now defending itself against groups explicitly dedicated to its destruction is just plain evil. It is designed to incite hatred against the Jews while revictimizing them with the very trauma their nation was formed to prevent.
I'm Erika Grey. I'm here to give you the missing pieces the other reports leave out. If you want the full picture, be sure to hit that subscribe button. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and I'll see you in the next post.
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