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The Genocide Libel: How the World Has Charged Israel with Genocide
(Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism - Indiana University) Norman JW Goda - States committing genocide are viewed as permanently illegitimate. The charge was leveled dozens of times against France, Portugal, Nigeria, China, Cambodia, the U.S., the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and other states. Genocide accusations against Israel are different. It has been charged with genocide throughout its existence. Moreover, the speed and fury with which the accusations exploded after the Hamas massacres of October 7, 2023, are unusual in the annals of lawfare. Regarding Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, there has been not only a rush to judgment but an effort to redefine genocide itself so that the constitutive elements of the crime itself are lowered, while Hamas's own genocidal intent is whitewashed. What makes the genocide libel particularly dangerous is the association of all Jews with the crime. Jews worldwide are all in on it, either as Zionist enablers, as dishonest back-room lobbyists, or as community leaders who "weaponize" the charge of antisemitism to silence the truth-tellers. While genocide charges involving other peoples have not targeted members of those peoples who live abroad, the genocide libel against Israel drives rage against Jews throughout the world. The writer is Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Florida.