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J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service, Australia
July 22 2014
Accusations against Israel are latest disservice to coiner of the word
'genocide'...
writes Rafael Medoff
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Israel is carrying
out "systematic genocide" in Gaza. South Africa's ruling party, the
African National Congress (ANC), asserts that Israel's actions in Gaza
"remind [us] of the atrocities of Nazi Germany." Palestinian Authority
(PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is accusing Israel of "genocide," and the
PA's newspaper is calling the current war "Israel's Holocaust."
From: Rafael Medoff /JNS.org
It seems as if every time Israel defends itself, somebody points an
accusing finger and yells "Genocide!" Raphael Lemkin, who coined that
term 70 years ago this autumn, would have been appalled by such abuse
of his life's work.
During the 1930s, Lemkin, a Polish Jewish attorney and expert on the
development of languages, trudged from law conference to law
conference across Europe, making the case for legal mechanisms to
define and combat mass murder.
A plaque on Kredytowa Street in Warsaw commemorating Raphael Lemkin,
the Polish Jewish attorney and expert on the development of languages
who coined the term "genocide." Credit: Wuj Mat via Wikimedia Commons.
Lemkin was galvanized by the failure of the international community to
prosecute Turkish officials involved in the genocide of approximately
one million Armenians between 1914 and 1918.
No doubt Lemkin would have been disappointed by President Barack
Obama's decision to refrain from recognizing the Armenian genocide.
The Obama administration has even refused to permit the public display
of an elaborate rug sent by Armenian orphans to the White House in
1925 as a gesture of appreciation for U.S. relief assistance.
Apparently, the administration fears Turkey would be offended if the
rug is exhibited, since its display will remind the world of the
Armenian genocide.
Lemkin realized that a new word was needed for the unique crime of
attempting to destroy an entire racial, ethnic, or religious group. He
took his inspiration from George Eastman, who invented the word
"Kodak" because he needed a short, unique, and easy-to-pronounce name
for his camera.
Lemkin coined the term "genocide" even as a new mass murder, the
Holocaust, was unfolding before his eyes. Seventy years ago this
autumn, Lemkin used the word "genocide" for the first time, in his
book "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe." The 700-page tome chronicled, in
painstaking detail, all the laws and regulations imposed by the Nazis
and their collaborators to facilitate the annihilation of the Jews.
In December 1948, Lemkin's campaign was crowned with success when the
United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention. It defined genocide as
"acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical [sic], racial or religious group, as such."
Obviously, no reasonable person can believe Israel's actions in Gaza
fit that definition. Then again, the world is filled with unreasonable
people. But the likes of Erdogan, Abbas, and the ANC are not the only
ones who have done Lemkin's legacy a disservice.
Rafael Medoff
There are government officials who have refused to apply the label for
political reasons. Susan Rice, who today is the president's national
security adviser, was director of African Affairs for the National
Security Council in 1994, when the genocide in Rwanda began. In one
policy discussion, she argued against calling it "genocide," because,
as she put it, "If we use the word 'genocide' and are seen as doing
nothing, what will be the effect on the November [congressional]
elections?"
And at the other extreme, there are those who casually apply the label
where it doesn't belong. Prof. Richard Breitman recently claimed that
"American presidents" have "abetted genocidal violence by the
government of Sri Lanka." Genocide Watch, however, reports that while
both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war "have committed atrocities,"
they fell short of genocide. Other human rights groups have reached
the same conclusion.
For the term "genocide" to have any meaning, it must be used strictly
in situations that indisputably warrant such a determination,
according to the legal definition. Applying it or withholding it based
on political considerations will render the term useless.
Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for
Holocaust Studies, www.WymanInstitute.org.
http://www.jwire.com.au/featured-articles/accusations-against-israel-are-latest-disservice-to-coiner-of-the-word-genocide-writes-rafael-medoff/44580
From: A. Papazian
July 22 2014
Accusations against Israel are latest disservice to coiner of the word
'genocide'...
writes Rafael Medoff
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Israel is carrying
out "systematic genocide" in Gaza. South Africa's ruling party, the
African National Congress (ANC), asserts that Israel's actions in Gaza
"remind [us] of the atrocities of Nazi Germany." Palestinian Authority
(PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is accusing Israel of "genocide," and the
PA's newspaper is calling the current war "Israel's Holocaust."
From: Rafael Medoff /JNS.org
It seems as if every time Israel defends itself, somebody points an
accusing finger and yells "Genocide!" Raphael Lemkin, who coined that
term 70 years ago this autumn, would have been appalled by such abuse
of his life's work.
During the 1930s, Lemkin, a Polish Jewish attorney and expert on the
development of languages, trudged from law conference to law
conference across Europe, making the case for legal mechanisms to
define and combat mass murder.
A plaque on Kredytowa Street in Warsaw commemorating Raphael Lemkin,
the Polish Jewish attorney and expert on the development of languages
who coined the term "genocide." Credit: Wuj Mat via Wikimedia Commons.
Lemkin was galvanized by the failure of the international community to
prosecute Turkish officials involved in the genocide of approximately
one million Armenians between 1914 and 1918.
No doubt Lemkin would have been disappointed by President Barack
Obama's decision to refrain from recognizing the Armenian genocide.
The Obama administration has even refused to permit the public display
of an elaborate rug sent by Armenian orphans to the White House in
1925 as a gesture of appreciation for U.S. relief assistance.
Apparently, the administration fears Turkey would be offended if the
rug is exhibited, since its display will remind the world of the
Armenian genocide.
Lemkin realized that a new word was needed for the unique crime of
attempting to destroy an entire racial, ethnic, or religious group. He
took his inspiration from George Eastman, who invented the word
"Kodak" because he needed a short, unique, and easy-to-pronounce name
for his camera.
Lemkin coined the term "genocide" even as a new mass murder, the
Holocaust, was unfolding before his eyes. Seventy years ago this
autumn, Lemkin used the word "genocide" for the first time, in his
book "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe." The 700-page tome chronicled, in
painstaking detail, all the laws and regulations imposed by the Nazis
and their collaborators to facilitate the annihilation of the Jews.
In December 1948, Lemkin's campaign was crowned with success when the
United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention. It defined genocide as
"acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical [sic], racial or religious group, as such."
Obviously, no reasonable person can believe Israel's actions in Gaza
fit that definition. Then again, the world is filled with unreasonable
people. But the likes of Erdogan, Abbas, and the ANC are not the only
ones who have done Lemkin's legacy a disservice.
Rafael Medoff
There are government officials who have refused to apply the label for
political reasons. Susan Rice, who today is the president's national
security adviser, was director of African Affairs for the National
Security Council in 1994, when the genocide in Rwanda began. In one
policy discussion, she argued against calling it "genocide," because,
as she put it, "If we use the word 'genocide' and are seen as doing
nothing, what will be the effect on the November [congressional]
elections?"
And at the other extreme, there are those who casually apply the label
where it doesn't belong. Prof. Richard Breitman recently claimed that
"American presidents" have "abetted genocidal violence by the
government of Sri Lanka." Genocide Watch, however, reports that while
both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war "have committed atrocities,"
they fell short of genocide. Other human rights groups have reached
the same conclusion.
For the term "genocide" to have any meaning, it must be used strictly
in situations that indisputably warrant such a determination,
according to the legal definition. Applying it or withholding it based
on political considerations will render the term useless.
Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for
Holocaust Studies, www.WymanInstitute.org.
http://www.jwire.com.au/featured-articles/accusations-against-israel-are-latest-disservice-to-coiner-of-the-word-genocide-writes-rafael-medoff/44580
From: A. Papazian