December 17, 2023
Letters to the Editor
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The New York Times
Re: “Antisemitism: A Guide for the Perplexed,” (Opinion by Bret Stephens, December 12, 2023)
To the Editor:
Contrary to Bret Stephens, Article II (c) of the Genocide Convention, to which Israel is a party, condemns the Israeli government’s impermeable siege and ongoing military offensive in Gaza against 2.3 million Palestinians as “genocide.” Subsection (c) defines genocide to include, “[d]eliberately inflicting on [a national, ethnical, racial, or religious] group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Article III also criminalizes “attempt[s] to commit genocide.”
The Israeli government’s siege of Gaza has been described as follows by the Netanyahu coalition: “No food, no water, no power, no electricity, no shelter, no medicine, no anything.” The government has asserted that Palestinians are “human animals” and will be treated accordingly. The siege combined with the Israeli government’s saturation bombing and ground force attacks have created conditions of life calculated to physically destroy Gaza Palestinians in whole or in part.” No human can survive without food or water. The official but probably undercounted climbing death toll in Gaza exceeds 18,000, far greater than the number who died in the Srebrenica genocide adjudged by the International Court of Justice.
Mr. Stephens retorts, “If Israel really wanted to commit geocide in Gaza, it has the means to do so,” forgetting that attempted genocides that fail in their objectives still constitute the crime of genocide under the Genocide Convention.
Mr. Stephens absurdly thunders, “the charge of genocide is so heinous that it licenses any form of violence to stop it, including the sort of massacre we saw on Oct. 7.” But the charge of genocide is not a legal defense for murdering, raping, or plundering innocent civilians. The Hamas crimes on October 7 have not been exonerated by the Israeli government’s genocidal response.
Mr. Stephens further blunders in asserting that “Israel came into existence in the most legitimate way possible—through a vote of the United Nations.” United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 prescribing the partition of Palestine was advisory only. The Resolution called for its implementation by the United Nations Security Council which has never done anything on that score.
Genocide and history are too important to be left to the uninformed or misinformed.
Sincerely,
Bruce Fein, associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan, 1981-83, and author of American Empire Before The Fall
300 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: 202-465-8728; 703-963-4968
Email: bruce@feinpoints.com
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Bruce Fein's Pioneering Lyceum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.