Genocide is less about 'killing people' and more about killing 'a people' or their identity as a people
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I have previously written about why it is important to be careful with the use of words such as “terrorism” and “terrorist” and how they are defined.
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“Genocide” is another word which falls into that category.
As is the case with terrorism, dictionary definitions alone are not sufficient.
For example, claims are currently being made that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza as the result of the Israel-Hamas war.
The problem is the definition of genocide used by those making the accusation is often ambiguous.
To illustrate the point, here is the definition of genocide in the Oxford English dictionary: “The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular race or nation.”
Here is a different one from the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group.”
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There are significant differences between these two definitions of genocide.
For example, “the deliberate killing of a large group of people” and “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group” are technically not the same thing, especially when referring to a group as opposed to an individual.
The first definition leaves the type of group which is a victim of genocide open to broad interpretation.
The second defines it as based on race, politics and culture.
I believe the definition of genocide is more limited and specific.
When alleging that an individual or group has committed a crime, it is important to be precise. A false accusation can seriously harm the credibility of the accuser.
Consider the following, within the context of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
If an individual argues a “pro-Palestinian” position that Israel is committing genocide and it turns out there is no basis for the claim, it hurts the credibility of all pro-Palestinian positions on the conflict.
The same is true of a “pro-Israeli” position.
If an individual makes a claim that the Palestinians are a genocidal people without sufficient evidence, it damages their credibility.
The United Nations’ view of genocide is as follows:
It has a mental component, which is the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group” and a physical element, which includes five acts:
— Killing members of the group.
— Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
— Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
— Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
— Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Canada’s treatment of its Indigenous people, including the residential school system, fits this definition of genocide.
There is, however, a special qualification for genocide to meet the first component, a specific intent referred to as “dolus specialis” — “a harm resulting from an act specifically intended to cause that harm” — that is unique to genocide.
In this context, cultural destruction alone is not sufficient to meet the definition of genocide, nor is the targeting of specific members of a group.
For a genocide to occur, there also needs to be a concerted and intentional effort to target that group with the intent of destroying it.
Genocide is less about “killing people” and more about killing “a people” or their identity as a people.
If that does not happen, it is very difficult to prove that a genocide has occurred.
— Alex Vezina is the CEO of Prepared Canada Corp, teaches Disaster and Emergency Management at York University and is the author of Continuity 101. He can be reached at info@prepared.ca.
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