Jillian Segal attempting to make accusations of Genocide by Israel – antisemitic
The Special Envoy for addressing antisemitism, Jillian Segal, had a submission to a Senate inquiry a few months ago where she identified various forms of antisemitism.
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One form repeatedly identified was accusing Israel of genocide. Examples of this are repeatedly made in her submission as illustrative of antisemitism. Some of the ‘notable’ antisemitic discourse includes ‘Invocation of the Blood Libel and other antisemitic tropes to allege that Jews and/or Israelis kill and enjoy killing non-Jewish babies, commit genocide and commit apartheid’. In one instance, an academic writes ‘I have to confess on a personal level, every day I had to walk past big signs saying “Israel is genocidal”, right? And that’s pretty upsetting to see that that sits on campus 24/7 and is unchallenged.’
Or another example, ‘Before the encampment started, the protestors were marching up and down, and that was very unpleasant hearing them on their loudspeakers shouting genocide and other false allegations, and it conjured up an underlying dread’. Or ‘You know, you’d walk down the bridge that connects two sides of the campus on that city road, and it was always covered in posters about Palestine and ‘genocide’.’
These instances of genocide allegations are examples of the antisemitism crisis on university campuses that Segal and others insist need to be addressed through the creation of new mechanisms to repress protest on campuses.
If accusing Israel of genocide is antisemitic, then presumably most Palestinians are antisemitic, and so are the solidarity protesters. However, the ranks of antisemites are significantly broader than those groups — the international conspiracy of antisemitism is wide and deep. I have compiled a non-comprehensive guide to other antisemites who have also been free to spread their hateful messages:
30 per cent of American Jews
In May 2024, a right-wing Israeli think tank, the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, published a survey of American Jews. It found that almost a third (about 30 per cent) of American Jews thought Israel is committing genocide. About a quarter disagree, and another quarter strongly disagree. The rest took no position — that is, slightly more than half (51 per cent) of American Jews think Israel is not committing genocide. The other half? Well, more than half of them are antisemitic, and the other 18.6 per cent might be antisemitic too.
Infographic of Jews position on whether Israel committing genocide. About 30 per cent agree, 50 percent disagree, 18.6 per cent take no position
About half of Biden voters, most American liberals
Economist/YouGov had a survey of Americans in January 2024. It found that some 35 per cent of Americans thought Israel is committing genocide, whilst 36 per cent thought it wasn’t. This includes 50 per cent of Biden voters from 2020, and 60 per cent of liberals. Notably, whilst Jews were less likely to accuse Israel of genocide than some other demographics or Americans in general, they were not as pro-Israel as Trump voters, Republicans, people 65+, or conservatives — the real base for support for Israel in the US.
The International Court of Justice
It is true that the International Court of Justice has not heard the substantive case as to whether genocide is occurring in Gaza. However, in order to hear the substantive case, and to make provisional orders, the ICJ had to first consider whether the arguments made by South Africa — that Israel was committing genocide, and the ICJ should stop it — were plausible (along with other legal standards South Africa had to meet). The ICJ repeatedly affirmed that this was the case — that the right of the Palestinians to be protected from genocide was plausibly engaged. Whilst one British judge sought to fudge the significance of this in British media, this central finding comes through in the provisional orders made, and also in separate opinions and declarations issued by judges in the majority.
In the ICJ’s provisional orders issued in January 2024, it held
54. In the Court’s view, the facts and circumstances mentioned above are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts identified in Article III, and the right of South Africa to seek Israel’s compliance with the latter’s obligations under the Convention.
In the March provisional orders, some of the judges made comment on the situation in Gaza.
President Salam: ‘7. We are therefore faced with a situation in which the conditions of existence of the Palestinians in Gaza are such as to bring about the partial or total destruction of that group.’ He observed that ‘ the purpose of the provisional measures… is to preserve the rights which the Court recognised as plausible in its Order of 26 January 2024, in particular the right of the Palestinians of Gaza to be protected against acts of genocide and related prohibited acts referred to in Article III of the Genocide Convention.’
Judge Yusuf: ‘12. The alarm has now been sounded by the Court. All the indicators of genocidal activities are flashing red in Gaza. An injunction has been served for ending the atrocities. The provisional measures indicated by the Court are binding. They are not something that a State party to the Convention is free to respect or to ignore according to its own pleasure. They must be implemented.
13. The rights of the Palestinian population of Gaza, including its right of existence, must be preserved pending the final decision of the Court on the merits. Such rights cannot and should not continue to be subjected to the risk of irreparable prejudice.’
Judges Xue, Brant, Gomez Robledo and Tladi: 3 ‘The Court has at its disposal sufficient information that Israel’s military operations have resulted in unprecedented levels of starvation and the absolute collapse of essential civilian infrastructure in the region. The current circumstances could lead to further devastating consequences where the very existence of the Palestinian people in Gaza is at a high risk.’ [6] ‘The Court further found that some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. Such plausible rights, in essence, bear on the fundamental right of the Palestinian people to existence.’
In May 2024, the ICJ held in its latest provisional orders that Israel must immediately halt its offensive and any other actions on Rafah which ‘may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring
about its physical destruction in whole or in part’ — that is, that may constitute genocide.
If it is antisemitic to accuse Israel of genocide, surely it is antisemitic to find that there is a plausible case that Israel is committing genocide. So antisemites presumably include the highest judicial organ of the United Nations, the ICJ.
Antisemitic international NGOs
Amnesty International, ‘“You feel like you are subhuman”: Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians’: ‘Amnesty International concludes that following 7 October 2023, Israel committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.’ December 2024.
Medicins Sans Frontieres: ‘Our firsthand observations of the medical and humanitarian catastrophe inflicted on Gaza are consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organisations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza.’ December 2024.
Oxfam (implying Israel may be breaching the Genocide Convention, see esp discussion of ICJ case on p38): ‘In conclusion, the report highlights the urgent need for the international community to take decisive action to uphold justice and human rights, prevent further suffering and protect the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, including those enshrined in the Geneva and Genocide Conventions.’ The report is titled Water War Crimes: How Israel has weaponised water in its military campaign in Gaza. July 2024.
Forensic Architecture — Cartography of Genocide
38 humanitarian NGOs, including Oxfam, warn that Gaza is being erased, and cite Israel’s obligations under the Genocide Convention. October 2024.
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, December 2023: ‘Statement on Why We Call the Israeli Attack on Gaza Genocide’.
Defence for Children International, March 2024: ‘The starvation of children is a hallmark of genocide and a deliberate political choice by Israel, backed by the Biden administration.’
UN mandated expert bodies and UN organisations:
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories: ‘69. The developments in this report lead the Special Committee to conclude that the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.’
Statements by a litany of UN Experts (mandated by the Human Rights Council) accusing Israel of genocide: October 2024, July 2024, and a warning from November 2023 to prevent genocide in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967: In the October Report linked, and also in her July report.
Holocaust and genocide scholars
Omer Bartov, Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, August 2024. ‘I had become convinced that at least since the attack by the IDF on Rafah on 6 May 2024, it was no longer possible to deny that Israel was engaged in systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal actions.’
Dozens of genocide and holocaust scholars, December 2023: ‘Thus, the time for concerted action to prevent genocide is now.’ Their statements warns of ‘dozens’ of statements of genocidal intent by Israeli leaders.
William Schabas, Professor of International Law at Middlesex University, November 2023.
Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Endowed Professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University, October 2023.
Amos Goldberg, Jonah M. Machover Chair in Holocaust Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. October 2024. Also here (July 2024).
Martin Shaw, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Sussex University and Research Professor at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, here and here.
Countries accusing Israel of genocide
South Africa’s ICJ application for provisional measures. from December 2023.
Irish Parliament, November 2024: The motion said ‘agrees that a genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza, and Ireland has a legal and moral duty to do whatever we can to prevent it’.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro accused Israel of genocide, February 2024.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric accused Israel of genocide, June 2024.
President Lula of Brazil, and President Luis Arce of Bolivia accused Israel of genocide, February 2024.
Antisemites who accuse Israel of genocide | Abraham Edwards | Medium
Related
A Massive Database of Evidence, Compiled by a Historian, Documents Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza – A woman with a child is shot while waving a white flag ■ Starving girls are crushed to death in line for bread ■ A cuffed 62-year-old man is run over, evidently by a tank ■ An aerial strike targets people trying to help a wounded boy ■ A database of thousands of videos, photos, testimonies, reports and investigations documents the horrors committed by Israel in Gaza
Bearing Witness to the Israel-Gaza War (PDF) | Lee Mordechai, Historian and Israeli citizen | December 5, 2024
