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A coalition of 40 legal and civil society organizations has launched the Gaza GenoLIE, an international educational and social media campaign disputing allegations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza and documenting the deliberate weaponization of the charge after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The initiative says anti-Zionist and antisemitic networks in the United States, Europe and elsewhere promoted a false narrative intended to demonize Israel and extend collective blame to Jews worldwide. Its website presents eight interlocking “pieces” of a puzzle, combining legal analysis, timelines, wartime evidence and media case studies to demonstrate that the accusation was deliberately generated, amplified and normalized through a coordinated disinformation campaign.
Jewish Onliner is one of the organizations participating in the initiative.
Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism, told Jewish Onliner that the accusation has moved from online activism into public institutions while contributing to threats against Jews.
“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.”
An International Coalition
At launch, the campaign listed 40 participating organizations spanning the United States, Israel, Europe, South Africa and international advocacy networks. Additional organizations can also sign up to join the initiative. The participating organizations are:
United States: Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Club Z, Honest Reporting, Israeli-American Council (IAC), Jewish Community Action Network (JCAN), Maccabee Task Force (MTF), National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC), Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), Stop Antisemitism, Students Supporting Israel (SSI) and ZOA Campus.
International: Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), International Legal Forum (ILF), Israel Allies Foundation, Jewish Onliner (JO), Movement Against Antizionism, Stand with Us, United with Israel and World Jewish Congress (WJC).
Israel and Europe: Impact Nation and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs in Israel; European Jewish Association (EJA) across Europe.
Spain and Italy: Acción y Comunicación sobre Oriente Medio (ACOM) in Spain; Alliance for Israel, Milton Friedman Institute, Progetto Dreyfus and Solomon - Observatory on Discrimination in Italy.
Belgium and Germany: Belgian Friends of Israel (BFOI) in Belgium; Christians on the Side of Israel e.V, Honestly Concerned e.V and WerteInitiative in Germany.
Ireland and the United Kingdom: Ireland Israel Alliance (IIA) in Ireland; National Jewish Assembly, NW Friends of Israel, Our Fight, Stop the Hate and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) in the United Kingdom.
Nordic countries and South Africa: Med Israel for Fred (MIFF), active in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland; Sweden Israel Alliance in Sweden; and South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) in South Africa.
Eight Parts of the Gaza GenoLIE Campaign
Jewish Onliner will examine each of the campaign’s eight sections over the coming weeks:
Genocide Claims Began on Oct. 8, 2023: Documents how the genocide allegation was already circulating one day after the Hamas massacre, before Israel began its ground operation.
The “War on Journalists” Hoax: Debunks accusations that the IDF intentionally targeted journalists to suppress war coverage by documenting numerous cases of journalists who were Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists, including some who participated in the Oct. 7 attack.
Blood Libel Targeting All Jews: Traces how the genocide accusation has expanded beyond Israeli policy and been weaponized against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide.
Distorting the Legal Framework of “Genocide”: Distinguishes the term’s political use from the specific acts and intent required under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Using Sick Kids to Fabricate Famine: Exposes how images of children suffering from serious preexisting illnesses were falsely presented worldwide as evidence of an Israeli-created famine, including a New York Times front-page image that the newspaper later corrected after the narrative had spread worldwide.
Hamas’s Human Shields Strategy: Details how Hamas deliberately turned Gaza’s civilian population and protected sites into defensive assets through a tunnel network exceeding 350 miles, with entrances beneath hospitals, schools and mosques.
War Against Hamas, Not Palestinians: Reviews Israel’s stated war aims, including recovering the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
New Accusation, Old Campaign: Explains how the genocide accusation against Israel did not emerge after Oct. 7, 2023, but is the latest effort in a decades-long campaign to delegitimize the country by accusing it of the most heinous crimes.
The evidence compiled by the project demonstrates that the genocide allegation did not emerge from a neutral legal assessment. The charge appeared immediately after Oct. 7 and was then reinforced through political activism, institutional campaigns, social media and selectively presented reporting.
By assembling the campaign’s legal, historical and media arguments in one place, the coalition aims to give supporters, researchers and institutions source-based material with which to challenge the allegation and trace how it spread.
I understand why we separate Hamas from “the Palestinians,” but the truth is there are a material number of Palestinians in Gaza and J&S who support Hamas, including Oct 7. Hamas are not alien invaders from another solar system; they’re faction of Palestinians. Yet, I realize, telling the truth can be used to support the collective punishment argument, not to mention the genocide canard. We nonetheless need to acknowledge reality in order to disrupt the simple oppressor-victim narrative that consumes the discussion, assuming it’s not too late.
Readers should be aware of a newly published, highly relevant book , written by Canadian author Warren Kinsella, “The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda”
Summary from Amazon:
An explosive inside look into the highly-planned and well-funded global propaganda campaign to delegitimize Israel and sow the seeds of antisemitism in the aftermath of October 7th.
October 7th, 2023 was a truly horrific day—a day in which Israeli men, women, and children were slaughtered or kidnapped, in the most barbaric fashion possible by the Iran-backed, Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas. The attack set off a bloody war, with profound consequences for both Israelis and Palestinians. That much is well known.
Less known is the propaganda campaign—the narrative war—that also began on that day. Like Hamas’ war on Israel, the narrative war had been in the works for a long time. It took, and continutes to take, planning, organization, and lots of money. Paid protestors. Professional organizers. Top-notch lobby efforts. NGOs, unions, and associations working together like a well-oiled machine. And, of course, messages designed to capture the support of legislators, voters, and the media.
There is little, if anything, organic about this campaign, even if some of its own participants aren’t quite aware of it.
Interestingly, Canada has become ground zero for this international effort, a result of shifting demographics, porous online and physical borders when it comes to foreign interference, lack of political will, and failure to enforce laws that could help prevent the spread of this type of hate. The numbers themselves are astounding, reflecting a growing tide of antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and general intolerance with a brazenness that has not been witnessed before. A country known for its historic support for the Jewish homeland and for Jews in general has become, since October 7th, a place where Jews live in fear, with skyrocketing incidents of vandalism, violence, threats, and intimidation.
A highly successful political strategist, and legal advocate for victims of hate, Warren Kinsella deconstructs the inner workings of this campaign of hate, and pulls no punches as to what is at stake here: the further spread of antisemitism within society—especially amongst the younger generations but certainly not limited to that demographic—and how to offset it.