On the Charge of Genocide, from Josh Marshall

I agree with him--
"One consistent feature of the last month has been the use and abuse of the word “genocide.” Charges that Israel was committing a genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza literally began the first day Israel started its retaliatory campaign against Hamas. I remember noting this because at that moment the scales of fatalities were overwhelmingly on the side of Israeli victims. But for many the retaliation against Hamas was already “genocide.” Genocide is the intentional physical destruction of an entire people, or at least a substantial part of it with the intention of eliminating the group. The term has expanded in various directions since it was first coined in 1944. To quote the United Nations: “To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

Nothing that has happened in the last month constitutes genocide, either in actual actions or the intent behind those actions. Not a single thing. And yet it has become almost a commonplace in discussions of the conflict to date. For many it is almost noted as an aside that it is treated as such a given. This is not only inaccurate by any definition. It is libelous.

There is a vast range of acts on the spectrum of brutality short of genocide. There are various crimes under international law short of it. To note that something is not genocide by any reasonable definition doesn’t validate it. It doesn’t mean it’s good, acceptable or even legal. It’s not genocide. It’s truly libelous."

-- Josh Marshall