Thread by @iyad_elbaghdadi

Alright, since you decided to ask me, I'll tell you why the same guy you praise for "wonderful analysis" also concludes, based on the facts & evidence, that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza:

https://twitter.com/IsabellaPfaff/status/1724053824761925700

There are multiple definitions of genocide, but the most widely cited is the 2002 Rome Statute's, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC). Around 120 countries are signatories (notably the US and Israel still refuse to sign it):

Right off the bat let's debunk some common misconceptions about "genocide": You don't have to exterminate *everyone* for it to be genocide. Genocide is not a crime of body count (although body count matters). Genocide is a crime of *intent*.

The bar for the crime of genocide is met when there's intent to *destroy*, in whole or in part, a people. "Destroy" can manifest in many ways - killing is one, but also inflicting upon them unlivable conditions. "Conditions calculated to bring about the group's destruction".

Since intent is key, let's focus on it. Normally*, whoever commits genocide won't go out and say "hey we'd like to wipe these people out". Normally, they hide their intent, and intent is typically the most difficult part to prove. (Hold on to the word "normally" for a sec please)

Since intent is rarely explicit, the law allows it to be *inferred* from broader context including:
- Scale & systematic nature of the violence
- Chosen methods
- Choices of victims/targets
- Evidence of cover up
- Patterns of narratives/speech used by political/military leaders

Alright, so let's for a sec follow the "inference" route. It is now very well documented that Israel systematically targeted:
- Hospitals
- Water tanks
- Solar panels
- Journalists
- Bakeries
- Fishing boats
- Schools
- Ambulances
- Residential blocks
- Aid & UN workers

(I don't have to go point by point because all of the above is *very* well documented and even captured live). It's also well documented that Israel's chosen bombs/methods are indiscriminate (easily proven by the fact that ~70% of the 12k dead are women, children, or elderly).

It is also well documented that Israel:
- Cut off the flow of food, water, & fuel to a civilian population
- Targeted basic telecom infrastructure (internet, phone service)
- Used easy-to-debunk disinfo & lies to pin the blame for *every* one of its atrocities on the other side

I know the typical US reaction would be "but Hamas!" To them Hamas is hiding in water tanks and solar panels. But if this is about Hamas, someone explain why 150+ Palestinians (incl 40+ children) have been killed in the West Bank, where there's no Hamas?

https://twitter.com/rulajebreal/status/1723859589215474069

Anyway: It's also well documented that Israeli ministry of intel produced a multi-stage plan for inflicting mass suffering on the population of Gaza to force them off their land and into the Sinai desert. So far Israel is following this plan actually:

https://twitter.com/972mag/status/1719011523622838465

(The above is important because while "ethnic cleansing" is not by itself a crime under the Rome Statute, it is widely acknowledged that there's a continuum between genocide & ethnic cleansing. Genocide is often a way to ethnically cleanse a people or force a population transfer)

It's also uncontroversial that Israel's leaders have repeatedly and systematically used language & references that makes it clear that *everyone* in Gaza, and not only Hamas, is a target. Israel's PM even tweeted it, and not just once:

Okay so now that we get to the speech/rhetoric of Israeli leadership, we can drop the pretense that we have to "infer" genocidal intent. There's *so much* documented.

Remember I told you to hold on to that "normally" a few tweets ago? Yeah, you can stop holding on to it now

There are several folks who have been collecting these statements of intent. One of them is br Abu Bakr Hussain who's updating a list daily and has it available for download as well. Not everything in his list is from politicians/leadership, but a lot is:

https://twitter.com/KintsugiMuslim/status/1724024286115938633

You can also look at the replies under this tweet. I believe others including @muhammadshehad2 and @m7mdkurd also have been collecting official & unofficial statements under tweets & in threads of their own:

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1719753407232082196

@muhammadshehad2 @m7mdkurd Craig Mokhiber worked at the UN for 30+ years and until recently was director of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' NY office. Listen to him explain how normally intent is the hardest to prove, but in this case, intent "is an easy case to make":

https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1720274608257925170

@muhammadshehad2 @m7mdkurd But now that we're citing experts, let's mention how so many *actual genocide scholars* have assessed that Israel is committing the crime of genocide. Again there's so much of this that I can't fit it all in a thread but some are under this tweet:

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1719775230116212757

@muhammadshehad2 @m7mdkurd An important voice has been Arnesa Buljušmić-Kustura (@Rrrrnessa), who is both an academic expert on genocide and a survivor of genocide. But there's also Luis Moreno Ocampo, ex-ICC prosecutor. And Raz Segal, an Israeli expert on modern genocide:

@muhammadshehad2 @m7mdkurd @Rrrrnessa (Btw correct me if I'm wrong but even in the case of the Bosnian genocide & the Iraqi Kurdish genocide, explicit public statements of intent were relatively scarce and intent had to be inferred from chain of command orders & military tactics/context. Here it's more explicit.)

@muhammadshehad2 @m7mdkurd @Rrrrnessa So yes: I write some decent threads on geopolitical analysis. Yes: I'm a human being who gets exhausted and triggered. But when I say Israel is committing genocide it's not hyperbole. It's a conclusion based upon the facts & evidence, and the conclusion of many noted experts.

Ultimately whether or not it's genocide will have to be determined through a thorough international independent investigation, followed by a fair, balanced, public trial. But we *know* we won't get that. Israel & the US are not party to the ICC. Israel is above the law.

I can still hear them say "but Hamas!"
- Hamas very likely committed war crimes & crimes against humanity on Oct 7
- Israel's actions since Oct 7 (fully backed by the West) can credibly be described as genocidal

No contradiction there

Finally: I know all of this will not make any difference to many people who have enthusiastically swallowed the Israeli propaganda & disinfo echoed by racist political & media institutions in the West. No amount of evidence will work on them. Why? This:

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1719776284547404127

Reminder that I have a team and we have to eat & pay rent so we'd appreciate your support:

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Thank you all for your solidarity, from this Palestinian heartpaypal.me/kawaakibi
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In case the original post I'm responding to is deleted

Okay, you could read the entire thread. Or you can just skip here and listen to an actual genocide expert lay it out better than I ever can. Worth the 13 mins of your time. Thank you @OwenJones84

https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1726948242531782961