Genocide Scholars’ Historic Vote on Gaza Actions Resurfaces as Debate Continues
Genocide Scholars’ Historic Vote on Gaza Actions Resurfaces as Debate Continues
Nearly two years after the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) declared Israel’s actions in Gaza to meet the legal definition of genocide, the debate surrounding the conflict and its classifications remains intensely relevant.
The IAGS, representing approximately 500 scholars globally, including Holocaust experts, made its determination in a resolution supported by 86% of its voting members. This controversial finding, which Israel vehemently rejected as an ’embarrassment to the legal profession,’ significantly amplified international scrutiny and added to the growing number of organizations using the term to describe the situation.
The scholars’ resolution, acknowledging Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack as an international crime, accused Israel of ‘indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure’ in Gaza, urging an immediate halt to all acts constituting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This stance further isolated Israel in global public opinion, particularly as a case against the nation progresses at the International Court of Justice, following South Africa’s accusations of breaches of the Genocide Convention.
With the conflict still ongoing and humanitarian concerns escalating, the IAGS’s historic precedent — marking the first time the organization accused a nation founded in part as a refuge from genocide — continues to fuel discussions among legal experts, human rights advocates, and international bodies regarding the interpretation and application of genocide conventions.
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