Nearly 200 genocide, Holocaust and legal scholars are calling on the International Association of Genocide Scholars to retract its resolution finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, JTA reported.
In a letter finalized on Sept. 5, the scholars charge the association with “critical errors” in its resolution, including failing to consider Hamas’ role in the deaths in Gaza and whether any explanation other than an intent to harm an entire group can explain the crisis there.
“It is critical that we not water down the legal elements of genocide for the purpose of advancing ideological positions and bias,” the letter says. “Holocaust and genocide scholars can have legitimate concerns about Israeli conduct in Gaza without working to disparage the very legal standards that exist to protect people from these crimes.”
The letter was initiated by Elliot Malin, a Nevada attorney. The letter’s signatories include former U.S. Department of Justice war crime prosecutor Eli M. Rosenbaum, former Hague legal fellow Isaac Amon; the Holocaust Museum of South Florida; and the pro-Israel attorney Alan Dershowitz, as well as several Holocaust educators and survivors’ children.
The letter represents an escalation of criticism of IAGS since its widely publicized resolution announced on Sept. 1. In a volley of op-eds and elsewhere, the critics lambasted the group’s membership and low voter turnout as suggesting a scholarly consensus that did not exist. Some noted that membership required only a low-cost purchase and that the group included a number of people with questionable credentials alongside reputable scholars; the group’s membership list is no longer available online.
