(UnitedVoice.com) – When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and killed approximately 1,400 innocent people, the Israeli government vowed revenge. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were at war, and they would not stop until they eradicated Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist group.
Israel began bombing Hamas in Gaza, and that led to the deaths of thousands of civilians, many of whom were women and children. The bombing campaign, and later the ground war, has angered critics who believe Israel is committing genocide. The United Nations — which was formed after WWII when Adolf Hitler actually committed genocide — held a panel to discuss the issue of mass killings. One panelist accused the US of supporting Israel’s actions.
Panel Discussion
On December 12, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) convened a panel discussion called the “2023 War on Gaza: The Responsibility to Prevent Genocide.” The panelists argued that Israel was knowingly conducting genocide, and that the military operations that have decimated urban areas mean they have met the legal requirements necessary to label it as such.
Stockton University Professor Raz Segal acknowledged that Hamas murdered more than 1,000 Israelis in the October 7 attack. However, he claimed the IDF’s response to the conflict was similar to the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust. To prove his point, he quoted Senior Israeli officials who have said they will annihilate Hamas, claiming those declarations point to “genocidal intent.”
Segal said the IDF is creating “forced displacement” by attacking Hamas in areas where civilians live. He claimed that’s actually called “ethnic cleansing,” and although it’s not always a genocidal act, it’s often part of the “genocidal processes.” He said that moving people into specific areas “eventually escalated into genocide characterized the Holocaust.”
Accusation Against America
One of the panelists brought up the United States and accused Washington of supporting Israel’s alleged genocide. Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Katherine Gallagher said she is arguing that “the United States has crossed the line into complicity.” She pointed out that the complicit entity doesn’t need to “share the specific intent to commit genocide.” She said they just have to be aware of the intent of the individual or entity committing the act.
The US caused outrage recently when it vetoed a measure at the UN to call on Israel to put a ceasefire in place. The US argued such a measure would have done nothing to change the situation in Gaza.
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