Researching Palestine

Resources on Contextualizing Genocide

UN Office on Genocide Prevention
The word “genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. It consists of the Greek prefix "genos," meaning race or tribe, and the Latin suffix "cide," meaning killing. Lemkin developed the term partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust, but also in response to previous instances in history of targeted actions aimed at the destruction of particular groups of people.

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
a. Killing members of the group;
b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Country Case Studies

Rwanda (1994)
Cambodia (1975-1979)
Armenia (1915-1916)
Bosnia & Herzegovina (1992-1995)

Genocide is a process that develops in ten stages that are predictable but not inexorable. At each stage, preventive measures can stop it. The process is not linear. Stages occur simultaneously. Each stage is itself a process. Their logic is similar to a nested Russian matryoshka doll. Classification is at the center. Without it the processes around it could not occur. As societies develop more and more genocidal processes, they get nearer to genocide. But all stages continue to operate throughout the process.

Current Alerts

Oral History Collection
The Virginia Holocaust Museum began recording oral histories in 1997 to preserve the firsthand accounts of people who had witnessed genocide. While the Museum’s oral history collection originally focused on Holocaust survivors and liberators, it has recently expanded to include other instances of genocide.

The Virginia Holocaust Museum is actively seeking the testimony of survivors and witnesses of genocide or other mass atrocities.

South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip

Videos
Documents

Oral argument of South Africa (Official United Nations Media video produced by UN Web TV)
THE HAGUE – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings in the case South Africa v. Israel - Oral argument of South Africa. International Court of Justice / Cases / 192 – South Africa v. Israel.
11 Jan 2024. Video Length: 03:18:03

Oral argument of Israel (Official United Nations Media video produced by UN Web TV)
THE HAGUE – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings in the case South Africa v. Israel - Oral argument of Israel. International Court of Justice / Cases / 192 – South Africa v. Israel.
12 Jan 2024. Video Length: 03:10:38

Ruling by International Court of Justice (Official United Nations Media video produced by UN Web TV)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its Order in the case South Africa v. Israel. International Court of Justice / Cases / 192 – South Africa v. Israel.
26 Jan 2024. Video Length: 00:58:25

South Africa's Application instituting proceedings and request for the indication of provisional measures
Links to South Africa's case in English (84 pages) and French (102 pages).
ORDERS (Ruling by the International Court of Justice Regarding Plausibility of Genocide and Provisional Measures))
Order of 26 January 2024. includes CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROCEDURE
RISK OF IRREPARABLE PREJUDICE AND URGENCY
CONCLUSION AND MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED
All public documents related to Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)
Includes links to:
Overview of the case
Institution of proceedings
Provisional measures
Written proceedings
Oral proceedings
Orders
Summaries of Judgments and Orders
Press releases
Multimedia galleries