Israeli Genocide?

January 6, 2009

Dear Editors,

Is Israel Committing Genocide?

Below is the language of Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on Genocide initiated in 1948. Is there any doubt that the government of Israel is engaging in genocidal policies against the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip?

“In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, 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.”

Both Israel and the United States are signatories to the Genocide Convention. However, the Bush administration is fully supportive of Israel’s policies.

President Elect Barack Obama must be called upon to condemn the Israeli killing.

Harry Targ
West Lafayette