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<\/a>Rafael Lemkin\u2019s Family Fights to Have Anti-Israel Group Stop Using Name of Famed Zionist Who Coined Term \u2018Genocide\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nAilin Vilches Arguello<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The family of Raphael Lemkin \u2014 the Polish-born Jewish lawyer who coined the term \u201cgenocide\u201d and helped draft the Genocide Convention after World War II \u2014 is taking legal action against a stridently anti-Israel group based in the US, accusing the\u00a0nonprofit organization of corrupting his family name<\/a>\u00a0and legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n Joseph Lemkin, the cousin of Raphael Lemkin and closest living relative, confirmed to\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0that his family is initiating legal proceedings against the Pennsylvania-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, with the support of the European Jewish Association (EJA), to stop the misuse of his family name.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFrom our perspective, the Lemkin Institute has no right to use his name. Their actions are completely opposed to what he stood for,\u201d Lemkin told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>, referring to his cousin. \u201cHe was a passionate Zionist who dedicated all his efforts and resources to one cause: the adoption of the Genocide Convention.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lemkin\u2019s father was Raphael Lemkin\u2019s first cousin, and he said the two men had a close relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n First\u00a0reported by\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em><\/a>, the institute has used the Lemkin name to advance an agenda of extreme anti-Israel activism, which Lemkin\u2019s family called a \u201cshameful betrayal\u201d of their legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n Initially registered in Pennsylvania as a nonprofit organization in 2021, the institute received US federal tax-exempt status two years later.<\/span><\/p>\n Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the organization has shifted toward aggressive anti-Israel political advocacy, backing pro-Hamas campus protests and reaching millions on social media with posts that falsely accuse Israel of genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n Less than a week after the Oct. 7 atrocities, for example, the institute released a \u201cgenocide alert\u201d calling the Palestinian terrorist group\u2019s onslaught an \u201cunprecedented military operation against Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Comparing Israel\u2019s defensive military actions against Hamas to the Holocaust, the institute accused the Jewish state of carrying out a \u201cgenocide\u201d against Palestinians \u2014 the very term Raphael Lemkin coined in 1943. Israel had not even launched its ground offensive in Gaza at the time of the social media posts.<\/span><\/p>\n Days later, the\u00a0Lemkin Institute called on 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 Israel still had not initiated its ground campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n Since then,\u00a0the organization\u2019s vocal anti-Israel advocacy has continued<\/a>\u00a0unabated for the past two years, accusing the Jewish state of genocide and terrorism while largely staying silent about Hamas.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the Lemkin family, such statements distort history and undermine their legacy, but even more, they disrespect the memory of six million Jews.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe institute has used this term to promote an inflammatory, antisemitic stance against Israel \u2014 completely contrary to the principles he stood for,\u201d Joseph Lemkin told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>, referring to his cousin.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAstonishingly, they have even expressed support for Hezbollah and Hamas \u2014 both internationally designated terrorist organizations \u2014 while smearing Israel,\u201d he continued.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, legal steps are underway to hold the institute accountable, stop it from exploiting the Lemkin name to raise money, and end its Holocaust comparisons.<\/span><\/p>\n After first sending letters demanding that the institute change its name, the Lemkin family is now awaiting a response \u2014 and if no voluntary action is taken or Pennsylvania officials fail to intervene, the matter will be taken to court, Lemkin told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond its communications with the institute, the EJA legal team also sent letters to\u00a0Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a>\u00a0and Pennsylvania\u2019s Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations regarding this issue.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Lemkin Institute, through its very name, as well as its marketing and other materials, represents itself as an embodiment of Mr. Lemkin\u2019s ideology. In reality, the Lemkin Institute\u2019s policies, positions, activities, and publications are anathema to Mr. Lemkin\u2019s belief system,\u201d the letter reads.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Lemkin Institute is not authorized by Raphael Lemkin\u2019s family, his estate, or any custodian of his legacy to rely upon his name for any purpose,\u201d it continues. \u201cThe European Jewish Association and Mr. Lemkin\u2019s family are outraged by the Lemkin Institute\u2019s use of Mr. Lemkin\u2019s name, especially in the context of the Lemkin Institute\u2019s anti-Israel agenda.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin has sharply condemned the institute\u2019s actions and statements, saying it has \u201cweaponized a sacred legacy against the very people it was meant to protect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Lemkin Institute was established to prevent genocide \u2014 not to distort its definition or fuel antisemitic tropes,\u201d Margolin said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n Raphael Lemkin was born in Poland in 1900 and eventually escaped the Nazis to the US, 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\u00a0designating mass murder as a crime<\/a>\u00a0which could be prosecuted through international law. Forty-nine members of his family, including his parents, were killed in the Holocaust. He died in 1959.<\/span><\/p>\n 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 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 Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, founder and executive director of the Lemkin Institute, told the online news site EJewish Philanthropy that her organization was named after Lemkin to \u201cbring his name back into public discourse\u201d but \u201cthere was no clear person to contact\u201d when naming the institute in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to cause unhappiness for anybody in the Lemkin family. We did ask to know what legal basis exists for the complaint, and we have not received any response to that specific question,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> Rafael Lemkin\u2019s Family Fights to Have Anti-Israel Group Stop Using Name of Famed Zionist Who Coined Term \u2018Genocide\u2019 Ailin Vilches Arguello Raphael Lemkin being interviewed on Feb. 13, 1949. Photo: Screenshot The family of Raphael Lemkin \u2014 the Polish-born Jewish lawyer who coined the term \u201cgenocide\u201d and helped draft the Genocide Convention after World War […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124334"}],"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=124334"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124350,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124334\/revisions\/124350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![](\"https:\/\/www.algemeiner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screen-Shot-2024-11-13-at-10.42.43-AM.jpg\")
Raphael Lemkin being interviewed on Feb. 13, 1949. Photo: Screenshot<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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