According to a report just published by AP, a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, issuing a report Tuesday that calls on the international community to end the genocide and take steps to punish those responsible for it.
The deeply documented findings by the three-member team are the latest accusations of genocide against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government by rights advocates as Israel carries on with its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people. Israel rejected what it called a “distorted and false” report.
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, which was created four years ago, has repeatedly documented alleged human rights abuses and violations both in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel led by Hamas, and other Palestinian areas.
The International Criminal Court has a role to play in the Genocide in Gaza
While neither the commission nor the 47-member-country council that it works for within the U.N. system can take action against a country, the findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.’s International Court of Justice.
The Tourism Industry has a role to play in the Genocide in Gaza
The World tourism industry is a driver for economies around the globe, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and all countries heavily affected by this ongoing genocide. Tourism is also a driver for peace, and with this, it has a double responsibility not to be silent and absent from what is currently happening in the world. Tourism is the industry that can bring the world and people together.
There is no tourism without peace.
What Really is Antisemitism?
As defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, antisemitism is “a certain perception of Jews”.
That is the crux of the matter: one particular perception dominates, and people are not perceived as unique individuals.
Anyone who forms an opinion about Jewish people based on their Jewishness rather than their individual behaviour engages in antisemitism. Jews have nothing in common with each other apart from being Jewish – each differs from the other, just as members of different religions and cultures differ from each other.
This relationship between the individual and the group is crucial: antisemitism starts where the traits of individuals are treated as deriving from their membership in a group, and vice versa. Attributing characteristics to Jews as a group that go beyond the fact that they are Jewish is antisemitic.
The same is true of positive attributes, such as the idea that all Jews are brilliant, or the centuries-old stereotype of “the beautiful Jewess”. Such generalisations are called “philosemitism” and are also a form of antisemitism.
Antisemitism is a real threat to the Israeli people, and also one of the most misused words in this conflict.
Due to the action by the Government of Israel against the people of Gaza, Jewish people in many countries around the world are scared – and this is wrong, and this is anti-Semitic, and in most countries, such as in the United States or Germany, this is and should be illegal.
Why encourage travel to Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, Iran ….
The industry of peace, travel, and tourism needs to understand that speaking out against the genocide caused by the Government of Israel is not antisemitic. It’s equally important to include the Jewish communities in this discussion and distinguish between the people of Israel, the Jewish Communities, and the Government of Israel. The travel industry has a unique responsibility to bring this world together through travel, especially to countries such as Jordan and Israel, and in the broader sense, Lebanon, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Iran.
An Israeli Hero Speaks Out against the Genocide
Israeli orchestral conductor Ilan Volkov gave a heartfelt speech urging the world to stop Israel’s slaughter in Gaza and help free the hostages in Gaza and in Israel.
He is a hero who loves Israel and speaks out against the genocide, and at the same time makes clear that it’s not antisemitic to speak out about what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza.
