300 demonstrators gathered at the dock to protest Israeli “genocide”
in Gaza .........1,600 Israeli passengers were unable to disembark
Genocide - Wikipedia
Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their
membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people.
Definition: Genocide is the intent to destroy a specific national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part, through acts such as killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, or preventing reproduction. Coined by Raphael Lemkin, the concept was later codified in the Genocide Convention, which serves as the legal basis for defining and prosecuting the crime of genocide.
Key Aspects of Genocide
Targeting a Group:
Genocide specifically targets members of a protected group, rather than individuals, and is motivated by their membership in that group.
Intent to Destroy:
The defining feature of genocide is the intent to destroy the group, even if the destruction is not immediate or complete.
Specific Acts:
Under the Genocide Convention, prohibited acts include: Killing members of the group. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Historical Context
The term “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin to describe the systematic destruction of groups, drawing on events like the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.
The international legal definition, while largely based on Lemkin’s ideas, was influenced by powerful countries that sought to limit its scope, particularly excluding political groups and cultural destruction from the Convention’s initial draft.
Distinction from Other Crimes
Genocide is often considered the most severe crime, even worse than other atrocities that result in similar numbers of civilian deaths. Unlike other crimes, the intent to destroy a group as a whole is the central element of genocide.
See: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Genocide Convention - Wikipedia
Definition of genocide * The convention was passed to outlaw actions similar to the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust.
Was the Allies killing of 12% of Germans in the war they started a “genocide”?