{"id":117036,"date":"2024-11-14T17:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117036"},"modified":"2024-11-14T15:41:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T13:41:46","slug":"14-00-104","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117036","title":{"rendered":"Exposed: Anti-Israel Group Under Fire for Using Name of Raphael Lemkin, Zionist Who Coined the Term Genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Exposed: Anti-Israel Group Under Fire for Using Name of Raphael Lemkin, Zionist Who Coined the Term Genocide<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Ira Stoll<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Raphael Lemkin being interviewed on Feb. 13, 1949. Photo: Screenshot<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Members of the family of Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who coined the term \u201cgenocide\u201d and pushed for the passage of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, say they are outraged that a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization is using the Lemkin name to pursue an agenda of extreme anti-Israel activism.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention was initially registered as a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation on Aug. 19, 2021, and won US federal tax-exempt recognition in September 2023. In recent months, it has veered into strident anti-Israel political advocacy, supporting anti-Israel campus protests and reaching millions of viewers with social media posts that falsely accuse Israel of genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Less than one week after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas\u2019s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, the institute released a \u201cgenocide alert<\/a>\u201d calling the onslaught an \u201cunprecedented military operation against Israel\u201d while decrying the Jewish state\u2019s actions against Hamas as \u201cgenocide.\u201d The Oct. 13 message came before Israeli launched its ground offensive in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then on Oct. 18, 2023, the\u00a0Lemkin Institute called<\/a>\u00a0on the International Criminal Court \u201cto indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the crime of #genocide in light of the siege and bombardment of #Gaza and the many expressions of genocidal intent.\u201d The social media post accumulated 1.3 million views, according to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The institute\u2019s vocal anti-Israel advocacy has\u00a0continued unabated<\/a>\u00a0for the past year. In September, for example, it described Israel\u2019s war against Lebanese Hezbollah as \u201cterrorism\u201d and \u201cthe slaughter of Arab peoples\u201d leading to \u201cthe wanton slaughter of all mankind.\u201d The post did not mention that Hezbollah is an internationally designated terrorist organization that began firing rockets at Israel the day after the Oct. 7 attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

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To mark the US presidential election last Tuesday, the institute issued a \u201cstatement on genocide and the [election],\u201d declaring, \u201cTo the next president, we emphasize that it is in the interests of the US polity to cease its military support for Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018Totally Outraged\u2019: Lemkin Family Disavows Institute<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph Lemkin, a New Jersey lawyer who is related to Raphael Lemkin, said he was unfamiliar with the institute until being informed of it by\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lemkin, who represented the family at a UN event marking the 65th anniversary of the genocide convention, described himself as \u201ctotally outraged\u201d to see his late relative\u2019s name used to push an anti-Israel agenda. His father was Raphael Lemkin\u2019s first cousin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of our family were killed in the Holocaust, and Rafael Lemkin would be outraged by the use of his name and the abuse of the word genocide,\u201d Joseph Lemkin said in a statement to\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0that was copied to eight of his family members. \u201cOur family fully supports Israel\u2019s right to defend itself and are fully in favor of US policies to support Israel. Indeed, we have many family members in Israel; family members who have served in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and others that have been impacted by the terror of Hamas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The family is discussing possible steps ranging from a joint public statement to a cease-and-desist letter aimed at getting the Philadelphia organization to drop the name.<\/span><\/p>\n

The co-founder and executive director of the institute, Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, was previously an assistant professor and director of the masters program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University in New Jersey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joeden-Forgey did not respond to two emails and two cellphone voicemail messages from\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0left both last and this week seeking comment. Her co-founder, Irene Victoria Massimino, told\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0that she is no longer with the Lemkin Institute and \u201ccannot speak on its behalf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Pathbreaking International Lawyer Dedicated to Zionism<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Lemkin<\/a>\u00a0was born in Poland in 1900 and eventually escaped the Nazis to America, where he joined the War Department, documenting Nazi atrocities and preparing for the prosecution of Nazi crimes at the Nuremberg trials. He dedicated much of his life to making the world recognize the horrors of the Holocaust and designating mass murder as a crime which could be prosecuted through international law. Forty-nine members of his family, including his parents, were killed in the Holocaust. He died in 1959 in relative obscurity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raphael Lemkin\u2019s grave, Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens, New York. Photo: Oberezny, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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A 2017 article by James Loeffler, who now teaches at Johns Hopkins University, described what he called \u201cthe forgotten Zionism of Raphael Lemkin.\u201d Loeffler noted that while \u201cdead international lawyers rarely become celebrities,\u201d Lemkin \u201chas emerged as a potent symbol for activists and politicians across the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Scholarly and popular attention to Lemkin has blossomed in recent years, with his story featured everywhere from\u00a0the alumni magazine at Duke University<\/a>, where he taught, to National Public Radio\u2019s \u201cAll Things Considered<\/a>.\u201d A search of one database of academic articles, JSTOR, turned up 1,515 references to Lemkin, of which 1,133 were from 2005 or later. Samantha Power, a Harvard professor who served as UN ambassador during the Obama administration and administrator of the US Agency for International Development during the Biden administration, highlighted Lemkin\u2019s story in a 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning book; she is\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0to have kept a framed portrait of Lemkin on her office wall while serving as a White House staffer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Loeffler traced Lemkin\u2019s work as an editor and columnist of a Jewish publication,\u00a0Zionist World<\/em>. \u201cThe task of the Jewish people is \u2026 [to become] a permanent national majority in its own national home,\u201d Lemkin wrote in one such column.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not enough to know Zionism,\u201d Lemkin wrote in another column quoted by Loeffler. \u201cOne must imbibe its spirit, one must make Zionism a part of one\u2019s very own \u2018self,\u2019 and be prepared to make sacrifices on its behalf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018A Genocidal State That Is Completely Out of Control\u2019: The Institute\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Relentless Critique of Israel<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Lemkin Institute\u2019s social media account has been persistent in defending anti-Israel activists that the US government defines as antisemitic. For example, the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, posted on Oct. 29, \u201cAs UN Special Rapporteur Albanese visits New York, I want to reiterate the US belief she is unfit for her role. The United Nations should not tolerate antisemitism from a UN-affiliated official hired to promote human rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0has\u00a0reported extensively on how Francesca Albanese<\/a>\u00a0has used her position as the UN\u2019s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas\u2019s attacks on the Jewish state.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the Lemkin Institute\u2019s account jumped into the replies of Thomas-Greenfield\u2019s post with a defense of Albanese and an attack on the American diplomat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour attack on UN special Rapporteur Albanese is so clearly intended to hide your criminal complicity in an ongoing genocide that you truly should be embarrassed,\u201d the institute\u00a0wrote in a post<\/a>\u00a0which, according to X, garnered 294,000 impressions. \u201cIs there any trick from the genocidaire\u2019s playbook that you will refuse to carry out?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The post continued, \u201cFrancesca Albanese is an upstander. She will be remembered as a hero. You will be remembered as a perpetrator and an apologist. As experts on the crime of genocide, we can say this with certainty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The institute\u2019s 2023 annual report listed only $10,300 in revenue. Yet in addition to the outsized social media footprint, the institute has also generated press mentions, with coverage and placements in media outlets including\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>. Its website lists a seven-person leadership team that includes personnel devoted to outreach, education, research, communications, and operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Facebook post from September by the Lemkin Institute accused Israel of \u201csexualized violence,\u201d asserting, \u201cThis sexualization alone is indicative of genocidal violence, as it indicates a desire to destroy Palestinians as such by desecrating symbols of generation and undermining the ability of Palestinians to reproduce biologically and culturally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An August post from the organization criticized the\u00a0elimination of Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh<\/a>. \u201cThe Lemkin Institute strongly condemns this attack \u2026 We condemn Israel\u2019s decision to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh, which sends a clear message that Israel is not interested in any peace, much less the ongoing peace process,\u201d the institute said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In April, the group issued a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0expressing solidarity with anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University and criticizing the Columbia administration for calling in police to clear a pro-Hamas \u201cencampment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExpressions of opposition to the genocide in Gaza and Israel\u2019s apartheid policies are not the same as expressions of antisemitism or hatred of Jews and the Jewish faith,\u201d the statement said. \u201cWhat is being labeled as \u2018antisemitism\u2019 is, in large measure, the visceral outrage that many young people feel toward the State of Israel and its military for the deadly occupation of Palestinian land and the mass-murder genocide they see every day in the news.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Israel in September targeted\u00a0Hezbollah terrorists by exploding their pagers<\/a>\u00a0and other communications devices, the Lemkin Institute issued a post with more than 700,000 views condemning what it called \u201cIsrael\u2019s terrorist attacks against Lebanese people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHezbollah, the ostensible \u2018target\u2019\u2019of the attacks, is not a simple \u2018terrorist organization\u2019 engaged in criminal activity. It is also a political party and a service provider for southern Lebanon, so it includes civilian doctors, nurses, teachers, and so forth. Are they terrorists?\u201d the post asked. \u201cWhat we see is a genocidal state that is completely out of control and supported by a Western world that is, in large measure, too racist and Islamophobic to care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShame on you for appropriating the Lemkin name to spread propaganda,\u201d\u00a0replied<\/a>\u00a0the editor-in-chief of the\u00a0Jerusalem Strategic Tribune<\/em>, Robert Silverman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Silverman\u2019s reply, seen by only a few hundred users, raised a cutting-edge legal question: Who has the right to use the Lemkin name?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the USA, in most states, people have rights of privacy and\/or publicity based on common law or statute to the use of their own name or likeness or identity,\u201d said Anita Allen, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on postmortem privacy rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn some instances such rights descend to heirs or assignees after death. The details of a particular case would determine whether the organization in question is subject to civil liability,\u201d she said. \u201cThey could be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Burgeoning Field of Anti-Israel Critique<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Lemkin Institute\u2019s use of the Holocaust as a weapon with which to critique Israel is not an outlier. Rather, it reflects how the rapidly expanding genocide and Holocaust studies fields, much of it funded by gifts and endowments from well-intentioned Jewish donors, have veered away from the facts and the law and toward, instead, anti-Israel activism.<\/span><\/p>\n

In one case from earlier this year, a doctoral student at Clark University\u2019s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies\u00a0reportedly confronted a visiting Israeli reservist<\/a>\u00a0and publicly accused Israel of genocide. Months later, in August, a professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University wrote in an article for\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0that it was \u201cno longer possible to deny that Israel was engaged in systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal actions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That same professor, Omer Bartov, joined other Holocaust and genocide studies scholars in\u00a0declaring<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0New York Review of Books<\/em> that \u201cIsraeli leaders and others are using the Holocaust framing to portray Israel\u2019s collective punishment of Gaza as a battle for civilization in the face of barbarism, thereby promoting racist narratives about Palestinians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Exposed: Anti-Israel Group Under Fire for Using Name of Raphael Lemkin, Zionist Who Coined the Term Genocide Ira Stoll Raphael Lemkin being interviewed on Feb. 13, 1949. Photo: Screenshot Members of the family of Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who coined the term \u201cgenocide\u201d and pushed for the passage of the UN Convention on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117036"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117048,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117036\/revisions\/117048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}