The genocide accusation and Hamas's disappearing responsibility

[lapucelle]

2. "The disappearance and repression of the agency and responsibility of Hamas for launching a war of extermination..."

My rejoinder as a historian is to focus instead on the conceptual problem in the genocide accusation, whether from Bartov and others, namely, the disappearance and repression of the agency and responsibility of Hamas for launching a war of extermination, and then for fighting the resulting war with a strategy intended to maximize death and suffering in Gaza.

As a result, Bartov et al. attributed genocidal intent where it does not exist and ignores it where it does. The clearly articulated consensus of the Israeli government is to wage war to defeat Hamas and other affiliated terrorist organizations, but not to wage war against the people of Gaza. Bartov does not mention Israel’s efforts to minimize civilian casualties while also pursuing the military goal of defeating a terrorist organization fighting from a massive underground fortress which cynically uses civilian shields to foster the accusation of genocide against Israel.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/hamas-disappearing-responsibilitiy-in-the-genocide-accusations/?_gl=1