Opinion: Words Matter
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Words matter. The choice of words matters and reveals a lot about the people who make the choice. Words should be more carefully used when the situation is more fully charged by emotion or politics or events and the stakes and one’s credibility depend on the words that are used.
“Genocide” is one of many such words. It is not a casual word. It denotes horrific circumstances, evil and hateful motivation, and involves specific criteria which include, above all, intent. A word such as “genocide” should not be casually used or used in a way that is too broad or lax.
Genocide is rightly applied in several situations. It is valid in the case of the Nazi Holocaust of 6,000,000 Jews, the decimation by white Europeans of Native Americans, the slaughter of over a million Armenians by the Turks, the murders of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis by Hutu militias, the millions of Africans killed in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the Bosnian genocide at the hands of the Serbs (though much smaller in number, it was just as vicious in intent).
The recent discussions regarding a resolution in Town Council about the Israel-Hamas War included the frequent use of “genocide”. This word is used to inflame passion and to taint the Israelis with the Nazi behavior which so decimated the Jewish world. This choice of word in the case of Israel is a cynical attempt to characterize Israeli actions with the worst event that ever befell the Jewish people. Putin tried a similar association when he claimed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was justified because they were going to rescue Ukraine from the Nazis. This was made even more vicious because the Ukrainian president is of Jewish heritage.
“Racism” is another word that should be used more carefully and with more restraint. It is a word that is too easily hidden behind to discredit an opponent’s view. Not every white person’s disagreement with a person of color is based on racism. Not every agreement is based on racial solidarity. I disagree with almost everything that Clarence Thomas says or advocates and it has nothing to do with his color. It has to do with his values. I also disagree with everything Samuel Alito does or says and he gets no break because he is white. They are both awful and race has nothing to do with it. The racism accusation is often a disingenuous tactic used to disguise the weakness in an argument.
The characterization of Israeli conduct in its war with Hamas as genocide lacks the intellectual integrity of the definition of the word. There is no intent involved of harming children, killing people other than Hamas, or eliminating a population. No aggressive action towards Gazans was contemplated before October 7 when Hamas broke a ceasefire and cruelly murdered 1,200 people including children, teens, elders, and peace activists. Hamas invited this conflict and keeps it going by continuing to hold hostages. It furthers the deaths of its own people by operating within the population. None of this conflict involves genocide.
The words “genocide” and “racism” should be applied carefully and with honesty and restraint.
David Sloviter is a resident of Amherst
I’ve been disturbed by the use of the word genocide since it began to be used to describe events in Gaza. I have said little or nothing because I am either preaching to the choir or addressing deaf ears.
Thank you David Sloviter for addressing the issue.
I think people may be having trouble with the word because it is becoming a reality. Perhaps those upset by the word could direct their ire toward Israeli officials who have advocated for genocide. Consider these statements:
“We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly,” Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said, describing the Israeli military’s response just days after Hamas’ attack. “We will eliminate everything – they will regret it,” Gallant added.
“There will be no electricity and no water (in Gaza), there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell”. Maj Gen Ghassan Alian, who heads the Israeli army’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories declared.
Moshe Feiglin, the founder of Israel’s right-wing Zehut Party has also called for the complete destruction of Gaza. “There is one and only one solution, which is to completely destroy Gaza before invading it. I mean destruction like what happened in Dresden and Hiroshima, without nuclear weapons.” he said.
In another statement, Feiglin said Israel’s end goal should not be to eliminate Hamas, but rather, “Gaza should be razed and Israel’s rule should be restored to the place. This is our country”.
Amit Halevi, meanwhile, a Likud member in parliament, said, “There should be two goals for this victory: One, there is no more Muslim land in the land of Israel … After we make it the land of Israel, Gaza should be left as a monument, like Sodom”.
Some Israeli politicians have outright called for a repeat of the Nakba, or catastrophe in Arabic, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled and hundreds of villages demolished from 1947 to 1948 as the state of Israel was being established.
In 1969, former Israeli prime Minister Golda Meir stated, “There was no such things as Palestinians”. This year, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich repeated that claim saying there’s “no such thing as the Palestinian people.”
It appears that genocidal speech is now politically correct speech in Israel if one is promoting it
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been killed or injured. Families are sleeping in the open as temperatures plummet. Areas where civilians were told to relocate for their safety have come under bombardment. Medical facilities are under relentless attack. The few hospitals that are partially functional are overwhelmed with trauma cases, critically short of all supplies, and inundated by desperate people seeking safety. A public health disaster is unfolding. Infectious diseases are spreading in overcrowded shelters as sewers spill over. Famine is around the corner…For children in particular, the past 12 weeks have been traumatic: No food. No water. No school. Nothing but the terrifying sounds of war, day in and day out. Gaza has simply become uninhabitable. Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence – while the world watches on……I think this is the worst [crisis] in my 50 years of experience.”