An alliance of 55 organizations has this week launched Gaza GenoLIE, an educational initiative about the “generated and orchestrated genocide lie promoted by anti-Zionists and antisemitic networks in the US, Europe and around the world.”
It further says that the “Gaza Genocide” is one of the biggest lies of the 21st century.
The website includes eight pieces of what it describes as “the Gaza GenoLIE puzzle.”
The initiative is led by organizations from around the world, including the Ireland-Israel Alliance, the Solomon Observatory on Discrimination (Italy), the Sweden-Israel Alliance, and others. There are also some major bodies on the list, including Stand With Us, the World Jewish Congress, CAMERA, and the National Jewish Advocacy Center.
Clicking on each of the eight puzzle pieces takes the user to an explanatory page.
Lie #1: Genocide claims against Israel only appeared after the October 7 Massacre
The first “lie” revolves around the notion that genocide claims against Israel only appeared after October 7, 2023. The website notes that calls of genocide were already widely used on social media and during protests on October 8, before the IDF even began a ground operation in Gaza.
Genocide is a well-established legal term and standard, proven by a pattern of conduct assessed over time. The website says that an accusation lodged within 24-48 hours after the Hamas massacre against Israel, before any such pattern could exist, “is a predetermined narrative, not a finding.”
Lie #2: Israel's actions legally constitute genocide
The second “lie” presented is that Israel’s actions constitute genocide under the legal framework.
The crime of genocide was defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention, drafted following the Holocaust. Under Article II, genocide means certain acts – killing, causing serious harm, inflicting destructive conditions of life – committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”
Intent is key when finding a state or party responsible for genocide. Additionally, if any other reasonable explanation for the conduct exists, the charge of genocide fails as a matter of law.
In Israel’s case, the website says “because a lawful war objective following a massacre of its civilians is a reasonable explanation for Israel’s conduct, genocidal intent cannot be the only reasonable inference.”
Therefore, under the ICJ’s own test, it says the genocide argument fails.
Other parts of the puzzle featured on the website include discussion of Hamas’s use of human shields, the use of sick Gazan children to generate optics of famine, and the accusations of war on journalists.
“The “Gaza GenoLIE” is the most dangerous example of a decades-long deliberate and systematic hijacking, redefinition, inversion, and weaponization of facts and law,” said the International Legal Forum.
Our Fight UK said, “While challenging the libel with the facts is an important step, it is no longer enough.”
“It’s time that we demanded our politicians state clearly where they stand. Our public life is being distorted and devalued as violence and intimidation are given free rein, justified by the false claim of genocide; yet our public figures are too cowardly to challenge it.”
Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism, said: “Calling Israel’s defensive war against Hamas a ‘genocide’ is not activism; it is a modern blood libel dressed up in academic language.”
“We’ve watched this lie spread from social media into classrooms, city councils, and even Congress, and it has emboldened people to harass and threaten Jews in broad daylight. The Gaza GenoLIE campaign exposes this libel for what it is: a coordinated disinformation effort, not a legitimate critique. Antisemites don’t get to hide behind a hashtag.”
“When we table on campus and visit universities, and we ask them what they know about Israel, the word “genocide” is the first one they say,” said Ilan Sinelnikov, President, Students Supporting Israel.
“We all know there is no genocide in Gaza. What there is is a big lie. The GenoLie that is being fed to hundreds of thousands. The GenoLie initiative will make it fast and easy to debunk those lies.”