History teaches us that atrocities are too often recognised only after the fact. From the dispossession of Indigenous peoples, slavery, the Holocaust, Srebrenica and Rwanda, became part of our collective conscience only after the full scale of the crimes could no longer be denied. Gaza genocide is following that same tragic script—except this time—the world is watching in real time.

Nearly two years into the wanton devastation, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) announced on 31st August  that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the definition of genocide under UN Conventions. In light of world powers’ inaction amid famine and war crimes, the question is no longer whether genocide is taking place; but whether the 1948 UN Convention is enforced for some, and a lie for the rest.  

The IAGS ruling transforms the genocide in Gaza from a polemic political debate into a legal fact. This is not merely an opinion but the scientific assessment of an international body composed of the world’s foremost experts on Genocide and war crimes. Its members represent the academic community that has studied all known genocides and war crimes. For such a body to speak with this level of clarity is extraordinary. It affirms what Palestinians, Israeli rights groups, international human rights organisations, Israeli Holocaust........

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