Recognizing genocide is political. Not recognizing genocide is political.

As collectives of people who believe strongly in the liberation of all peoples around the world, we take
great issue with the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust’s
statement released on 29 November 2023, in which they condemned the use of the term “genocide” when
referring to the Israeli occupation’s violence against Palestinians. What is happening in Palestine is
unequivocally—by any metric or definition—a genocide. It has been since at least 1948.

Article 2 of the Genocide Convention defines genocide as (1):

... ANY of the following acts committed WITH INTENT TO DESTROY, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

In other words, genocide is intent and at least one of the five acts listed above.

There is clear documentation that the persecution and mass murder of Palestinians by Israeli forces is
based solely upon their status as Palestinians and Arabs. A member of the occupation’s legislature, Ariel
Kallner, tweeted on 7 October 2023 that, “Now there is only one goal; Nakba. A Nakba in Gaza that will
dwarf the Nakba of 1948” (2). Occupation president Isaac Herzog claimed in a 13 October 2023 press
conference that, “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about
civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true,” referring to Gaza (3).

Occupation defense minister Yoav Gallant said in a press conference on 9 October 2023, “I have ordered a
complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We
are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly” (4). One of Gallant’s predecessors,
Avigdor Lieberman, said in 2018, “You have to understand, there are no innocent people in the Gaza
Strip” (5). Spokesperson for the occupation forces, Daniel Hagari, explicitly said on 10 October 2023, “The
emphasis [in Gaza] is on damage and not on accuracy” (6).

Occupation spokespeople have made numerous statements highlighting their genocidal intent to destroy
Gazans by killing them, causing bodily and mental harm to them, and inflicting on them conditions of life
calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part. To anyone looking at these facts, it
should be obvious that these are acts (a), (b), and (c) of the definition.

As to intent, the Israeli occupation government’s messaging has been clear for decades: it would be better
for Palestinians to not exist in Palestine. For example, at the beginning of the Nakba, it was only
non-Jewish Palestinians whose villages were targeted and who were ultimately expelled from the settler
colony. After all, the goal was to establish a Jewish majority for the Jewish state (9). The Jewish
communities which had been in Palestine for centuries were not targeted and were often the ones who
moved into the newly stolen Palestinian lands (7). The existence of Plan Dalet in 1948—the systematic
directive to ethnically cleanse Palestinian villages and either physically destroy them or repopulate them
with Jewish people—shows that this was no accident (8).
In 2003, Netanyahu warned about the “demographic threat” of Palestinians exceeding 35-40% of the
settler colony (9). In 2005, Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres (who were prime minister and deputy prime
minister at the time) explicitly said that they ended their settlements in Gaza that year because too many
Palestinians were in Gaza for it to be integrated into the settler colony, which is the goal with all Israeli
settlements (9). Ehud Olmert, PM after Sharon, said that, “[The] formula for the parameters of a
unilateral solution are: to maximize the number of Jews; to minimize the number of Palestinians” (9). In
2018, the occupation government finally officially declared that only Jewish people have a right to
national self-determination within the settler colony (9).

Yet Lombardo’s council would like us to believe that these same actors, who are now
carrying out mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing of Gazans, have no interest in
“...destroy[ing], in whole or in part,” the Palestinian people?

Would this council like for us to wait until an occupation official literally says, “We are
committing a genocide to rid Palestine of Palestinians,” before we condemn it as such?

Gatekeeping the term “genocide” denies people’s oppression and the Israeli occupation’s culpability. It is a
tactic frequently used to ignore certain genocides—typically those committed against the Indigenous
peoples under the thumbs of imperialist European countries and colonies like the US, UK, Canada,
Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and many others (10).

It is, however, not surprising that this supposed “expert” council fails to recognize an ongoing genocide
when they have also consistently failed to acknowledge the genocidal acts that the US settler government
carried out on the very land we occupy.

A potent example of attempted genocide is right here in so-called Nevada. People of the Numu, Wašiw,
Newe, Nuwuvi, Aha Macav, and other Indigenous nations were brutally massacred, put in concentration
camps, starved, kidnapped, assaulted physically and sexually, and systematically forced to abandon their
cultures so Europeans could settle, dominate, and continue to commit violence against Indigenous
communities and poison the land (11). This is unquestionably part of the historical record and confirmed
by the Indigenous people who are still here and continue to educate about this history today.

Despite the intent to eliminate the Indigenous peoples of this continent, no aspect of the ongoing
brutalization of Indigenous nations and people has been officially recognized as a “genocide” by the
governments in the settler colony of the United States, with seemingly only one small exception in what
we call California (12). This is not because what happened to the Indigenous peoples of this continent is
not fully understood or documented. It is obvious that the primary reason is political and ideological;
acknowledging this history would undermine both the legitimacy and virtue of the largest and most
powerful settler colony in the world.

Similarly, the US settler government broadly refused to officially use the word “genocide” when talking
about the 1915-23 Armenian genocide until 2021 because of its close alliance with Türkiye, a country that
also continues to deny its history of genocide to this day (13). Condoleezza Rice said in 2007, “... I
continue to believe that the passage of the ... Armenian genocide resolution would severely harm our
relationships with Turkey” (14).

In their statement, the council argues that the misapplication of the term genocide will “diminish what
happened to millions of people during the Holocaust… Armenian... [and] Guatemalan … Genocides.” The
refusal of the US to recognize the Armenian genocide is so well-documented that we find it comical that
Lombardo and his advisory council chose this example to make their point. Clearly, the council is
ironically very correct to say that “genocide” is a term often applied (or not applied) for “political and
ideological purposes.”

What Lombardo’s council will not admit is that the exact same institutions that we are meant to trust,
including governments and intergovernmental organizations like the UN, often use biased and dishonest
discretion when choosing to apply the term genocide.

The example of the delayed US recognition of the Armenian genocide disproves the advisory council’s
argument that designation vs. non-designation of genocide is determined only through “careful
examination of the totality of actions taken by the actors.” With this precedent, it becomes clear that the
refusal among our so-called leaders to acknowledge the ongoing Palestinian genocide is motivated by
political and ideological purposes as well—specifically, the unwavering mutual support between the US
and Israeli settler governments (15).

Furthermore, those who commit genocide often have excuses for their actions. The US-backed
governments in Guatemala used the excuse of fighting “communism” to commit genocide against
predominantly Indigenous Maya communities (16). The Ottoman government claimed that Armenians
and other Christians were “disloyal” and were sabotaging the war effort against the Russian Empire (17).
This is not dissimilar to the Israeli settler government’s aforementioned claims that there are no civilians
in Gaza, effectively claiming that everyone in Gaza is a valid target due to the presence of militant
resistance.

We will not wait until those political and ideological purposes are overcome by reality. We
are witnessing the rapid escalation of a genocide in real time. We are not misusing the
term “genocide” because any definition that doesn’t include what is happening to
Palestinians is an illegitimate definition.

The suggestion that accurately describing the events in Palestine as genocidal “diminishes” what
happened to victims of other genocides is ridiculous. Firsthand videos (merely using social media as an
accessible medium to connect one person to another unobstructed) in both Gaza and the West Bank show
relentless carnage and massacres at a scale that can very aptly be compared to past genocides.

We’d like to know what, specifically, about mass graves of unknown murdered people, dismembered
civilians, forced restrictions of calories, polluted water, destroyed livelihoods, and potentially millions of
people left without homes in Gaza “diminishes” the experiences of other genocide victims
(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). The most appropriate and specific term to use is genocide.

And while we debate the word genocide, journalists in Gaza who we have grown to know and love by name
write their eulogies. We will never be forgiven for this, nor should we be.

--

Signed,

Radical Seeds Reno Red Desert Collective

Palestine Solidarity Reno

 Citations:

(1) United Nations (1948, December 9) Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime
of genocide.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-prevention-and-p
unishment-crime-genocide
(2) Asif, Y. (2023, October 8) “Israeli Knesset member calls for second ‘nakba’ amid ongoing conflict
with Hamas.” Al-Arabiya.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/10/08/Israeli-Knesset-member-calls-fo
r-second-Nakba-amid-ongoing-conflict-with-Hamas
(3) Sprusansky, D. (2023, November 2) “Holocaust scholars say Israel is committing genocide.”
WRMEA.
https://www.wrmea.org/israel-palestine/holocaust-scholars-say-israel-is-committing-genocide.h
tml
(4) Jankowicz, M. (2023, October 9). “Israel announces “Complete siege” of Gaza, cutting its
electricity, food, water, and Fuel.” Business Insider.
https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-f
ood-fuel-2023-10
(5) Lazaroff, T. (2018, April 8) “‘There are no innocents in Gaza,’ says Israeli defense minister.” The
Jerusalem Post.
https://m.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/there-are-no-innocents-in-gaza-says-israeli-defense-mi
nister-549173
(6) Johnson, J. (2023, October 10) “Israeli Army Official Admits Gaza Bombing Campaign Is Focused
on ‘Damage and Not on Accuracy.’” Common Dreams.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-gaza-bombing
(7) Yacov, D., & Bikhnafo, A. G. (2023, May 13). “From Salama to Kfar Shalem: How Mizrahim fit
into the ongoing Nakba.” +972 Magazine.
https://www.972mag.com/salama-mizrahim-nakba-palestinians/
(8) Pappé, I. (2011) The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld Publications, England. Page 111
(9) Human Rights Watch (2021, April 27). “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes
of Apartheid and Persecution.”
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apar
theid-and-persecution
(10)Samudzi, Z. (2019, June 21) “Policing the Borders of Suffering” Jewish Currents.
https://jewishcurrents.org/policing-the-borders-of-suffering
(11) People of Red Mountain. (2023) “About us.” https://peopleofredmountain.com/about-us/
(12)Cowan, J. (2019, June 19) “‘It’s Called Genocide’: Newsom Apologizes to the State’s Native
Americans.” The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/us/newsom-native-american-apology.html
(13)Longmire-Kulis, N. (2021, April 25) “Recognizing the Armenian Genocide Marks a Historic
Turning Point in American Foreign Policy.” Just Security.
https://www.justsecurity.org/75881/recognizing-the-armenian-genocide-marks-an-historic-turni
ng-point-in-american-foreign-policy/
(14)Azatutyun (2007, October 25) “Rice Urges U.S. Congress To Drop Armenian Genocide Bill.”
Azatutyun. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/1591205.html
(15)Biden, J. (2023, October 7) “Statement from President Joe Biden Condemning Terrorist Attacks
in Israel.” White House Statements and Releases.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/07/statement-from-p
resident-joe-biden-condemning-terrorist-attacks-in-israel/
(16)Isaacs, A. (2013, May 19) “We Enabled Guatemalan Genocide, but the Elite Committed It.” The
New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/05/19/what-guilt-does-the-us-bear-in-guatemal
a/we-enabled-guatemalan-genocide-but-the-elite-committed-it
(17) “The Armenian Allegation of Genocide: The issue and the facts.” Republic of Türkiye Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
https://www.mfa.gov.tr/the-armenian-allegation-of-genocide-the-issue-and-the-facts.en.mfa
(18)Agence France-Presse (2023, November 22) “In Gaza, dozens of unidentified bodies buried in
‘mass grave.’” France24.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231122-in-gaza-dozens-of-unidentified-bodies-burie
d-in-mass-grave
(19)Institute for Middle East Understanding (2014, August 14). “Putting Palestinians ‘On a Diet’:
Israel’s Siege & Blockade of Gaza.” IMEU.
https://imeu.org/article/putting-palestinians-on-a-diet-israels-siege-blockade-of-gaza
(20) Al-Jazeera (2023, November 28) “Disease could kill more in Gaza than bombs, WHO says
amid Israeli siege.” Al-Jazeera.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/disease-could-kill-more-in-gaza-than-bombs-who
-says-amid-israeli-siege
(21)Hedroug, L. (2023, March) “Israel’s Campaign Against Palestinian Olive Trees.” The Yale Review
of International Studies. http://yris.yira.org/global-issue/6018
(22) Magee, Z., Zayara, S., and Amer, R. (2023, November 30) “‘No walls to protect them’: Gaza
families brace for winter.” ABCNews.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/walls-protect-gaza-families-brace-winter/story?id=10526
5095