"Genocide" is . . .

[Richard D]

. . . being used for antisemetic purposes. No? Than explain please:

400,000 people perished in the war in Yemen and no one calls it a genocide.

500,000 died in the war in Syria, and 12 million were displaced, and no one calls it a genocide.

Millions died in the Congo wars and none call it a genocide.

When 2 million German civilians were killed in WWII, none called it a genocide,

When a million Japanese civilians were killed in WWII, no one called it a genocide.

Yet when Israel dared to fight back against the army of Jew-haters that attacked it on 7 October, raping, burning, beheading, and kidnapping innocent civilians, and Israel attacked the terrorists with the lowest civilian to-terrorist death in history to insure that such an attack can never happen again, so many said, "This is genocide."

This is antisemitism.

[Darwins_Retriever]

1. WW2

When the US and its allies bombed German cities killing thousands of civilians. Destroying schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, and homes. Was it genocide? Was the Vietnam War genocide?

[Richard D]

2. No one used that term . . .

. . . as far as I know. Whether it was or not is another conversation.

[spike jones]

9. About 3 million Vietnamese people died during the war, most of them civilians.

The Viet Memorial in DC is 10 feet high and 492 feet long. A similar memorial for the Vietnamese dead would be 100 feet high and 2600 feet long.

[Beastly Boy]

3. What we are seeing is just one step above holocaust denial.

Keeping in mind that the term "genocide" as a bona fide war crime was first used in reference to the holocaust, and given the fact that attempts to normalize holocaust denial have become subject to universal scorn and ridicule all over the world in the face of overwhelming indisputable evidence that confirmed the systematic eradication of 6 million Jews, the next best thing Jew haters could come up with was to propagate the mythology of "genocide" committed by the "Zionists".

This propaganda began way before the Gaza war. It can easily be traced to the post-1967 antisemitic propaganda in the official press of the Soviet Union, the inheritor of the centuries-old traditional pan-European antisemitism, and later to the post-1980s Iran, the propaganda powerhouse of the pan-Islamic antisemitism.

Of course, neither "genocide" nor "Zionist", as the terms have been used in this more contemporary incarnation of antisemitic activism and are still used with the same purpose and effect today, have anything to do with the laws, ideologies or even semantics that define these terms, but this doesn't matter when propaganda controls the narrative. Enormous resources have been spent on making this propaganda effective. Thus, "Zionist" has become a derogatory term being applied to all Jews while retaining the facade of plausible deniability by not referring to Jews directly, and "genocide" is likewise being used now as a pejorative, free of the obligation of having to preserve the appearance of legality and credibility associated with the term, being applied to the Jews in general, not just Israel or Israelis, or Israeli government.

"Genocide, like "Zionism" is now commonly used in certain circles as a derogatory reference to the Jews in general and as an excuse for antisemitic rhetoric, intimidation and violence (remember the incident in the NYC subway in which pro Hamas "freedom fighters" demanded to know if any passengers were Zionist, and if they were, gave them the "last chance" to leave the train?).

[Butterflylady]

5. Try telling that to Lee Mordechaia.

He is an Israeli historian in Israel, internationally known. He is associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has published a report titled "Bering Witness to Israel." Much of it is recorded by Israeli soldiers. It is 124 pages with over 1200 footnotes. There is English translation.

Mr. Mordechai is not antisemitism and he is calling it genocide.

I don't know about anybody else, but I tend to believe an expert.

[Beastly Boy]

8. If Lee Mordechaia, or anyone else, wishes to take it up with me, I am game.

Believing, on the other hand, is a function of faith, not reason.

[moniss]

4. By some sure it is. By others not.

Is there a basis, based on statements by Israeli government leaders to question whether some of what is done is to go after Palestinians because they are Palestinian? Sure as well. Does it turn and the shoe fit various Arab and Palestinian leaders as well? Sure it does. Is it genocide? I don't care what anybody calls it but it clearly is disproportionate in terms of numbers of casualties and extent of destruction. Does either side deal with it's excesses? Not really. Fighters on both sides who commit horrible acts are, at the most, pulled from service and then hailed as heroes by their respective extremist parties.

[Richard D]

6. If I may be so bold...

1. You make the classic error of assuming blood lible, that Israel is seeking retribution. Thus the false logic of a "proportional response." and really, who and how could what is proportional to rapes, sexual toutures, beheadings, mutilation, burning alive, and etc, be determined.
They could have ended the war by not starting it. Then by returning the poor hostages. But they chose not to and 100 still remain.

And Israel must have and deserves a decisive victory as Hamas still is promising to totally destroy Israel and murder all Jews living there and in the world.
So sorry. There is not and cannot be bothsiderism here.

[moniss]

7. It is nonsense to ignore the statements

by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich etc. when discussing whether a campaign has a flavor of bigotry to it. You seem to want to defend any and all damage to people who had nothing to do with 10/7. It is ridiculous to hold little children responsible and justify their deaths by saying others could have stopped you. Netanyahu has gone on record saying there would be no stopping even if the hostages were released. It is madness to try and justify destroying an entire city block of dwellings with massive air bombardment in order to get at the half dozen or so Hamas terrorists claimed to be there. It is an indiscriminate use of force as opposed to sending in soldiers. There is a reason Israel has lost so much support around the world since 10/7 and it is not all anti-Semitism but that is the "go to" it seems rather than consider that the level of dead and wounded in this short time is repulsive since the vast majority of it is falling on children and people who had nothing to do with 10/7.

After 10/7 most everybody was completely behind your country responding but that doesn't mean anything goes and people are just going to back you unquestioningly. By the reasoning, measures and proportionality the Israeli government claims is acceptable then I guess the equivalency for our country after 9/11 would have been to wipe out 90% of the Saudi population. Everyone is not either anti-Palestinian/anti Muslim or anti-Israel/anti Semitic who is reviled by Hamas actions and Israel's.

[Richard D]

10. Bagles for thought

by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich etc. when discussing whether a campaign has a flavor of bigotry to it.

They are pretty much far-right loons. Their ideas will not succeed.

You seem to want to defend any and all damage to people who had nothing to do with 10/7.

War is a tragic thing. Much of the citizens of Gaza are all for 10/7 and its continuation into the future. 80% of Gaza are Hamas sympathizers. The best way out of war is not to start one. It's too late for that. Innocents die in war. It's how it works. Israel did not start it but has to finish it.

It is ridiculous to hold little children responsible and justify their deaths by saying others could have stopped you.

No one wants to see little children killed, except Hamas.

Netanyahu has gone on record saying there would be no stopping even if the hostages were released.

He has also said other things about this.

It is madness to try and justify destroying an entire city block of dwellings with massive air bombardment in order to get at the half dozen or so Hamas terrorists claimed to be there.

Now, the subtle antisemitism is creeping in. Notice the word "claimed" that you use, as though the terrorists are not there, but Israel claims that they are to kill innocents. This is the blood libel trope.

It is an indiscriminate use of force as opposed to sending in soldiers.

Even when buildings are boobie trapped or set up as ambushes? The lives of the soldiers have much value. Many have already lost their lives in such ambushes.

There is a reason Israel has lost so much support around the world since 10/7. It is not all anti-Semitism but that is the "go to" it seems rather than consider that the level of dead and wounded in this short time is repulsive since the vast majority of it is falling on children and people who had nothing to do with 10/7.

Sorry, I see it as antisemitism. The horrific anti-Israel propaganda started on 10/8, well before Israel went into Gaza. Please see the original post.

After 10/7, almost everybody was completely behind your country responding, but that doesn't mean anything goes and people are just going to back you unquestioningly.

"your country"? Sounds a lot like "You people". Hmmm.

By the reasoning, measures, and proportionality the Israeli government claims is acceptable, then I guess the equivalency for our country after 9/11 would have been to wipe out 90% of the Saudi population.

What is proportionality? Rape for rape? Beheading for beheading? Burn alive for burned alive? Kidnapped and tortured for kidnapped and tortured? Again, this is ridiculous, and it's ridiculous to assume that vengeance is the motivation when the true motivation is eliminating the possibility of another 10/7, as has been promised by Hamas and nearly enacted by Lebanon, This is a war of self-defence, nothing else.

You also say 90% of the Saudi population? Um, well, the population of Gaza has increased since 10/7 by something like 22,000. Us Jews just are not all that great at Genocide. Maybe the only thing we're not good at. Again, review the statistical fact that the Gaza war has the lowest rate of civilian deaths of any Urban war in recorded history.

Everyone is not either anti-Palestinian/anti-Muslim or anti-Israel/anti-Semitic who is reviled by Hamas's actions and Israel's.

There's that false equivalency again.