Genocide Explained

The International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) can prosecute the crime of Genocide, the difference is that the ICJ will name a country as being guilty whilst the ICC will label individuals responsible for genocidal policies and actions. Both The Rome Statute and The Genocide Convention have identical definitions of Genocide which entails

• Killing members of a group

• Causing serious mental or bodily damage to members of a group

• Inflicting conditions of life that are designed to bring about total or partial destruction of the group

• Preventing births

• Forcibly removing children from the group

Genocide is a very specific crime because the intent to exterminate the whole or part of a group of people needs to be proven. Usually this is what makes genocide a difficult crime to prosecute and prove but in the case of Israel there are a wide range of statements made from various government and War Cabinet officials in Israel regarding the dehumanization and desire to collectively punish and exterminate the Palestinian population of Gaza. The rules of engagement by the Israeli Occupation Forces can also be used as evidence of intent to commit genocide and even statements made by Israeli media personalities, journalists, academics and medical personnel within civil society are evidence of the discourse of extermination that has filtered down from policy into the armed forces and the perceptions and opinions of members of civil society.