Wikipedia has decided to rename the page – initially titled ‘Genocide allegations in the 2023 Israeli assault on Gaza’ to simply ‘Gaza Genocide’.
This change follows a community vote among contributors to the free, open-content online encyclopedia, which is written and edited by an international body of volunteers.
Drawing on expert opinions, Wikipedia editors, determined there was enough evidence from scholars and human rights organizations, like Amnesty International, to substantiate the term “genocide” in the page title.
Though this change does not hold legal significance, it could impact global public opinion culturally and politically.
The updated ‘Gaza Genocide’ article references nearly 800 sources, including human rights and field reports. Among these, several reports come from The Palestine Chronicle’s coverage of the war.
Additionally, the page highlights references made by Israeli politicians, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invocation of the ‘Amalekites’ from biblical texts, stirring further discourse on Israel’s intentions.
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Translated into 16 languages, including Arabic, Turkish, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Indonesian, the page begins by noting that “experts, governments, UN agencies, and NGOs have accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in the ongoing war.”
It features perspectives from notable figures, including Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, who points to statements from Israeli officials that suggest an “intent to destroy” Gaza’s population—an essential condition in genocide classification under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The page elaborates on the Genocide Convention’s criteria, listing acts like killing group members, causing severe harm, imposing destructive conditions, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children. Genocide is described as a targeted crime with specific intent, and cases like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia have led to ICC prosecutions.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,469 Palestinians have been killed, and 102,561 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, AJA)
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