On October 7, 2023, Israeli citizens are attacked by Hamas. These terrorists committed heinous acts against civilians, whether that is rape, torture, kidnapping, murder, or decapitation. There are still hostages in Gaza to this day. In addition to Hamas and Hezbollah having lobbed hundreds of rockets into Israel since then, the anti-Israel crowd lobs several false accusations at Israel: apartheid state, occupier, settler colonizer. The most egregious of these accusations is that of Israel trying to commit genocide. A couple of weeks ago, Amnesty International released a 296-report accusing Israel of just that.
I already wrote Part I in response to that accusation. First, I pointed out the legal definition of genocide and Israel's actions do not constitute genocide. Amnesty International is so flustered that they tried to change the definition to make Israel out to be the bad guy. As a side note, the Irish government is similarly frustrated. Don't like the current legal definition? The Irish government is so anti-Semitic that it is actually trying to appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to make the definition exceptionally broad.
Second, I pointed out the historical context in which Israel has been and continues to share a border with Arab entities that are hellbent on wiping out the world's only Jewish state. Last time I checked, that would constitute genocidal intent. Third, I reminded us all that Israel is under such scrutiny that it would have been nigh impossible to hide a genocide for all these years. The fact that the Gazan population has historically been growing and has continued to grow in spite of this war refutes the genocide accusation. In case you need more reasons as to why Israel is not committing genocide, read below.
Israel has a multiethnic, multi-religious population. While Israel is the only Jewish state on the planet, it is home to Jews, Christians, Druze, and also 1.8 million Muslims. Far from being an apartheid state, Muslim Arabs have equal rights under Israeli law and there are Muslims who hold positions of power and influence in Israel. The sort of diversity that allows Muslims to coexist with Jews in Israel could not be a reality under a regime intent on wiping out Muslim Arabs.
Israel has tried for "land for peace" multiple times. In 2005, the Israeli Defense Forces unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and had no physical presence in Gaza until Hamas attacked on October 7. The fact that Israel has tried to peacefully coexist with Muslims in bordering territories to no avail is not the behavior of a genocidal regime. Genocidal regimes do not offer "land for peace." They simply try to wipe out the targeted demographic without caring what the rest of the world think, much like Hitler, Hutu militias in Rwanda, or the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia did.
The Israeli Defense Force's actions reflect desire to minimize civilian harm. Israel clearly has the military capability to destroy Gaza. Instead of killing citizens for the sake of killing them and wiping out Gaza, the IDF has taken extraordinary measures to minimize civilian harm. The Israeli army sends Arabic-language warnings prior to striking terrorist infrastructures and legitimate military targets. No other military in human history has given the other side a heads-up because it means losing element of surprise. At the beginning of the war, Israel delayed its ground operation to give civilians time to evacuate. The IDF also facilitates humanitarian corridors, aid deliveries, and evacuation zones to Gazan citizens. For Amnesty International, this is all part of some complex, diabolical plot to commit genocide. It is so convoluted of a conspiracy theory that it would make Q-Anon members blush.
In contrast to Amnesty International's conspiratorial views, these are all signs that a reasonable person would accept to indicate that Israel is not committing genocide. Reasonable people in this instance would include major military experts. According to John Spencer, who is the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, Israel has implemented more precautions than any army in history, including the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq. These measures include precision guided munitions (PGM), using satellite imagery and scanning mobile phones to collect pre-strike intelligence, and pre-strike warnings.
An amicus curiae brief filed at the International Criminal Court by 11 senior military officers from seven NATO member countries similarly did NOT believe that the "actual operational practice in any way corroborates accusation of policies...to intentionally attack civilians." You can also read this research paper from the Naval War College Review on how Israel has a history of minimizing civilian harm in addition to the IDF's documentation of its efforts.
The remaining points to refute Amnesty International's nonsense will be covered in Part III.
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