Genocide in Gaza:

Voices of Global Conscience

Some account should also be taken of the well-documented failure by the Tel Aviv government to heed numerous warnings that Hamas was planning and rehearsing an attack on Israel, suggesting that Netanyahu knew the attack was coming and yet failed to tighten border security. Our initial concern involved whether available evidence justifies considering Israel’s rationalization of self-defense to be more properly understood as an instance of the international crime of genocide. Such an inquiry draws a distinction between a civil society assessment of genocide by international law specialists and others and a more legalistic view that allegations of genocide can only be resolved by a duly empowered judicial body after hearing arguments from both complainant and the accused that the elements of genocide have been established in law beyond reasonable doubt.

This book is a collective undertaking of a group of concerned individuals that relies on the value of what people know and believe about the deep roots of genocide in a variety of societal malfunctions. It conveys the diverse interests and perceptions of representatives of global civil society, without negating the importance of the legal profession and the potential political weight of a subsequent, more conventionally legal resolution of the genocide controversy arising from Israel’s violence against the civilian population of Gaza over the course of more than ten months.

The contributors to this book do not claim to be non-partisan. None of the chapters defends or explains sympathetically Israel’s behavior. Despite being admittedly partisan, we do claim to be objective, abiding by scholarly standards of truthfulness, respect for evidence, and reasonable canons of interpretation. The contributors offer their interpretations guided by a commitment to truth-telling and heeding the eyes and ears of victims, witnesses, and journalists who have themselves resisted the manipulations of state propaganda and self-serving apologists for evil deeds. There are at least two argumentative sides to every human encounter that occurs in the domain of politics, but judgments between right and wrong are still possible, and sometimes, as here, necessary.

Rarely has a people in modern times endured more than a century of victimization as have the Palestinian people, who have been reduced to being persecuted strangers in their own homeland and prolonged refugees denied by Israeli law—contradicting international law—any right of return. Contributors, most of whom presented preliminary versions of their chapters in a public conference devoted to these themes in London on January 27, 2024, explore the many facets of genocide from different perspectives.

Our editorial intention is to be inclusive with respect to the psychological, philosophical, cultural, religious, legal, moral, political, economic, and spiritual dimensions of the Israeli attack and its horrifying impacts on civilian lives, especially Palestinian children, but also the sick, wounded, disabled, and elderly, as well as Palestinian civilians with no special vulnerabilities except personal, family, and national well-being. It has also devastated the societal and ecological infrastructure of Gaza, putting in question whether a viable habitat can be restored even if the vast resources needed are made available either by way of Israeli reparations or through international funding.

Part of the impetus for the volume derived from a sense of helpless frustration on our part after months of failure by governments and the UN to uphold international law and protect the human rights of the deeply abused Palestinians confined to Gaza, whose very survival was most precariously hanging in the balance. We drafted a Declaration of Concern & Conscience in December 2023 that was signed by several hundred academic experts on these sensitive issues and by former government diplomats.

The Declaration stimulated anonymous funding that enabled the London conference to take place, which by accident or fate happened on the day after the International Court of Justice handed down its historic near-unanimous response to South Africa’s allegation of genocide on the basis of Article IX of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the International Crime of Genocide. The ICJ vote, with the support of several judges with national affiliations to complicit states, not only accepted jurisdiction over the legal dispute but held oral hearings that led to its issuance of Interim Orders directed at Israel to stop engaging in activity contributing to ‘a plausible genocide’ in Gaza, as well as directing Israel to cease interference with the supply and delivery of humanitarian aid desperately needed by virtually the entire civilian Palestinian population in Gaza, estimated at 2.3 million.

As expected, Israel refused to alter its behavior, being shielded from adverse consequences of defying the ruling of the ICJ by the further complicity of the liberal democracies. The highest officials in the US Government went so far as to contend that the South African initiative was ‘without legal merit,’ which, given the circumstances, was an irresponsible blow not only against the Palestinian victims of genocide but also to the regulative authority of international law and its most respected institutions.

Several chapters examine this disturbing linkage between the perpetration of genocide and the complicity of leading governments, which, among other harmful effects on world order, hampered the efforts of the UN to impose a mandatory ceasefire that would produce the release of the Israeli hostages remaining alive and of the large number of Palestinians detained and severely abused in Israeli prisons.

We have been encouraged by many people along the way to completing this journey. Most of all, we mention with gratitude those who met virtually to plan every editorial step of the way, with a sense of commitment, in what we came to call ‘the Gaza Group.’ The collective nature of this undertaking is signaled by the names of those who worked tirelessly with us during the process, lifting our spirits in the face of daily atrocity images with a sense of common struggle against this genocide transparently unfolding in real time, given its unmistakable signature by the dehumanizing language of Israeli political leaders and the tactics of IDF military commanders.

The dedication that we have together chosen also expresses our solemn sense of shared purpose. We would also like to acknowledge warmly the dedication and expert editorial assistance of Diana Collier and the Clarity staff. It has been a great pleasure for us to work with such a supportive publisher. We are especially grateful for Diana’s patience in the face of our delays and the skills she displayed in her various roles at Clarity.

Once again, it is time for people of conscience and for the love of humanity to raise their voices to shout ‘never again!’ but this time to do something by way of action, as well as words. A unifying theme during the discussions at the London Conference was that words are not enough, and that action is imperative.