Know the Difference: War vs. Genocide

For more than a year, we have witnessed a genocide unfold in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli government. However, media outlets and elected officials have used terms such as “war” and “conflict” to describe the ongoing violence against Palestinians. The words we use hold power. Selective language and misleading terminology have been used throughout history to justify violence against entire groups of people and continues to be weaponized today to downplay the genocide Israel is committing against Palestinians.

War and Genocide Defined

War is the state of open and declared armed conflict between states, nations, or groups. Wars often lead to the devastating loss of civilian life, massive displacement, and violations of human rights. Genocide is certain acts that are committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Coming from the Greek prefix genos, meaning race or tribe, and the Latin suffix cide, meaning killing, the term was first coined in 1944.

International Humanitarian Law

International Humanitarian Law seeks to protect civilians and minimize harm during times of war by establishing what can and cannot be done during armed conflict. These laws are binding on all states and non-governmental armed groups, and measures must be taken to minimize harm to civilians and “civilian objects,” including residential buildings, schools, and hospitals. Parties must not carry out attacks that fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants or that cause disproportionate harm to civilians. Serious crimes under these international laws are often committed during times of war, including war crimes, such as direct attacks on civilians; crimes against humanity, such as forcible transfer of a population and apartheid; and genocide. Source: Amnesty International

Genocide Convention

Genocide was officially recognized as a crime under international law in 1946, but it wasn’t codified as an independent crime until 1948 in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). The convention outlines that any of the following five acts committed constitutes genocide:

1. Killing members of the group.
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Source: United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect

Connection Between Genocide & War

War is not a necessary condition for genocide—the Genocide Convention outlines that the crime of genocide may take place in the context of armed conflict but may also take place in times of peace. Unlike other crimes committed during wartime, victims of genocide must be specifically and deliberately targeted because of their real or perceived membership to a group. Source: United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect

Building a Case for Genocide

In December 2023, South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the main judicial body of the United Nations, aiming to prove the Israeli government is guilty of committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza. On Jan. 26, the ICJ issued a provisional ruling that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The ICJ moved forward with investigating the charges against Israel, but the trial could potentially take years. South Africa ascertains that Israel is engaged in killing Palestinians in Gaza, including children, in large numbers; is causing serious bodily and mental harm to them; and is inflicting on them conditions of life intended to bring about the destruction of Palestinians. These conditions include:

1. Expulsions from homes, mass displacement, and the large-scale destruction of homes and residential areas.
2. Deprivation of access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothes, hygiene and sanitation, and medical care.
3. Destruction of the life of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent Palestinian births.

Source: Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)

Devastating Toll on Civilians

In the last 12 months, Israel’s violent military campaign has killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, including at least 16,500 children and 10,300 women. In July 2024, a study published in the international medical journal The Lancet estimated that 186,000 or more deaths could be attributed to Israel’s ongoing violence in Gaza. Israel’s indiscriminate bombing has destroyed entire residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure, rendering Gaza nearly uninhabitable. Approximately 1.5 million people have been forcibly displaced and are facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis as Israel continues to cut off food, water, electricity, and medicine to Gaza.

Dehumanization of Palestinians

Mainstream media and members of the U.S. and Israeli government have also used dehumanizing rhetoric to refer to Palestinians, including calling them “human animals,” “monsters in Gaza,” and “children of darkness.” Genocide Watch lists dehumanization as one of the Eight Stages of Genocide, a formula to understand structural understanding of the genocidal process. Dehumanization is when one group denies the humanity of another group, making it easier to justify violence against them.