UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, International Criminal Court Prosecutor, International Court of Justice President: Investigate the Possibility that Israel is Committing the Crime of Genocide Against the Indigenous Palestinian People.
While we are disappointed that the crime of Genocide wasn’t taken into account by the International Court of Justice, we recognize the importance of this court advisory opinion. Above all, ‘Israel Genocide’ maintains our stance, since our founding, that Israel’s colonialism (ie. “alterations to demographic composition”) not only “have no legal validity”, but rather constitutes a consolidated long-term policy and process of genocide by Israel against the indigenous Palestinian people, which today, more than ever- considering the court recognizes the occupied Palestinian territories “single territorial unit”- transparently targets Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as part of a single genocidal plan.
The only hint we found in the advisory opinion that the crime of genocide may be applicable is in article #239:
“by virtue of the right to self-determination, a people is protected against acts aimed at dispersing the population and undermining its integrity as a people.”
Furthermore, understanding that the court has deliberately been limited by the UN in its scope, for its own political agenda, we also reject the framing which doesn’t encompass the whole of historical Palestine and point to the dangerous limitations the court has set on the Right of Return which is an inalienable right, recognized by the UN General Assembly in Resolution 194, in 1948.
We can only hope that this advisory opinion will not be exploited in the future to further violate the right of self determination of the indigenous Palestinian people on their land.
“Israel Genocide?” is joining the growing chorus of support [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] for the Movement For Black Lives (M4BL) and its inspiring Policy Platform.
M4BL has been under fire for a section in the platform that addresses US billions of dollars military funding to Israel, in which it charged Israel with the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people. Not only do we support M4BL’s inspiring vision of social justice, but we also support their use of the term ‘genocide’.
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article 2
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article 3
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.
Article 4
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
We are people from all around the world who fear that we are witnessing the genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. We watch in horror as Israel’s daily violations of Palestinian human rights are systematised in practice, law, and social acceptance: Military take-over of land, house demolitions, colony construction, economic strangulation, restriction of movement, restrictions on basic foodstuff, mass arbitrary arrests of both adults and children, torture, extra judicial executions, large-scale massacres of whole families, and openly calling for genocide and extermination by law makers and other public figures, to name some.
Our aim is to raise awareness on the matter of Israel in the context of genocide, by archiving studies about the issue, and statements like those of M4BL. We hope that in identifying the crime of genocide as it is being committed and publicising our assesment, we will embolden those entrusted with collection of information and analysis- the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide- and those entrusted with indictment and enforcement- the International Criminal Court- to take action against the “crime of crimes”- Genocide.
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
We view the holding of the conference in a colonial state that violates the genocide convention, not only as a cynical act, but an act that lends Israel legitimacy to continue violating the convention, thus harming the global community’s ability to prevent genocide. There should be no exceptions to a rule that strives to protect humanity from the most heinous crimes.
Israel is no stranger to scholarly debates over its systematic violations within the field of genocide, and we believe academics are not only theorists, but also moral agents who have impact on the real world. You are now in a position to act against genocide. Please boycott the INoGS Conference unless this conference is relocated from Israel and its colonies, and its organizers reject institutional Israeli sponsorship of this event.
The United Nations Human Rights “Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict” has been released and the word genocide appears only once, to define what an International Crime is.
Even though the numbers speak for themselves, the treatment of the occupying army and the population it besieges as some kind of equals, with equal responsibility and military ability, in this report is glaring. We feel that the report, while detailing Israel’s individual war crimes, both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, during Israel’s attack last summer, intentionally glosses over the context of 68 years of colonization and its subsequent on-going genocidal effects.
A crime of this magnitude- which lasted 51 consecutive days and resulted in the extermination of 89 whole families and the deaths of scores of others, and in devastating damage to civilian property and infrastructure in the context of Israel’s ever-tightening de-facto stranglehold on Palestinian land and lives and infinitely superior fire-power- cannot be assessed under the laws of war, but under the laws of genocide. We appeal to the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda to investigate the possibility that Israel is committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.
We also call on each and every one of you, who agree with our appeal, to send this email below to the relevant offices. Seeing this report, we cannot stress enough the importance of such civil society action. Please help us preasure the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the ICC Prosecutor. Together we will end Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.
UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, International Criminal Court Prosecutor, International Court of Justice President: Investigate the Possibility that Israel is Committing the Crime of Genocide Against the Indigenous Palestinian People
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article 2
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article 3
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide.
Article 4
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
We are people from all around the world who fear that we are witnessing the genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. Witnessing Israel’s daily violations of Palestinian human rights- military take-over of land, restriction of movement, economic strangulation, house demolitions, restrictions on basic foodstuff, mass arbitrary arrests of both adults and children, torture, extra judicial executions, and large-scale massacres of whole families, openly calling for genocide and extermination by law makers and other public figures- we can not keep silent about this 67 year-old atrocity, unfolding before our eyes.
We demand the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor take action and investigate the possibility that Israel is committing the Crime of Genocide against the Palestinian People, and that the office publish its findings and recommendations.
