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[Omer Bartov] Israel, Genocide & Palestine
Genocide has been called “the crime of crimes.” Alas, mass murder is nothing new, but the term genocide is of relatively recent origin. It was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, to describe the Holocaust and the Genocide of the Armenians. The UN passed the Genocide Convention in 1948, and it went into effect in 1951. “Never again” became an empty slogan; witness Bosnia, Rwanda, and most recently Gaza, Palestine. A UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. The panel determined that statements by top Israeli leaders, combined with a systematic pattern of military conduct, demonstrate a clear intent to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza.