The stakes of calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide

This week: why the term “genocide” matters when talking about Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza. On Tuesday, a UN commission said it found that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, as more people, groups and countries are alleging the same. We break down what the word genocide means on both a personal and geopolitical level, why it’s understood very differently by different people, and what that designation requires of the rest of the world.

Note: A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated that Raphael Lemkin coined the term “genocide” to describe the Holocaust. He actually coined it to describe numerous other events, including Polish pogroms and the extermination of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire. It also incorrectly stated that the Genocide Convention was a part of the Geneva Conventions — those were separate treaties.

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