On December 19, Human Rights Watch and Médecins Sans Frontières reported that Israel's actions in Gaza, particularly the blockade and denial of water, constitute genocide. The American Friends Service Committee faced pushback from The New York Times when they attempted to run an advertisement labeling these actions as genocide. The Times suggested changing the wording to 'war' instead, which the committee rejected, feeling a moral obligation to accurately define these acts. Citing international humanitarian law, the committee emphasized that the systematic violence against Palestinians aligns with the criteria for genocide, as supported by multiple human rights organizations.
We feel a moral obligation to call a genocide by its name. We canceled the ad rather than modify our message.
International humanitarian law defines genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part.
Human Rights Watch determined that Israel was committing genocidal acts in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinian civilians of water.
A representative from the Times' advertising team suggested we use the word "war" instead of "genocide"—a word with an entirely different meaning.
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