• lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com
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    3 days ago

    I prefer to not throw words on something based on emotions.

    There are usually 3 views on the internet:

    1. “It’s a genocide!!! I am sure.”
    2. “It’s not a genocide!!! I am sure.”
    3. “I was not a virologist during Corona and I’m not an expert on genocides right now, but others are. So, I’ll wait for the experts of ICJ to decide.”

    Mine is Nr. 3! If you think, that Nr. 2 and Nr. 3 are the same, the problem is on your side.

    • jaek@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      That’s a bad comparison. The Wikipedia decision was made specifically because the experts – i.e actual scholars of genocide and war crimes – have a very widely held consensus that a genocide is occurring.

      Do you disagree with the experts?

      • lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com
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        3 days ago

        There is the UN with its ICJ. That’s what pretty much the whole world agrees on.

        They are the final deciders, but we can agree that it will take time for a decision.

        What might be interesting, is what happens and how various people (including the scholars or you) react, if the ICJ decided differently. But that’s just speculation at this point.

        • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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          3 days ago

          Be careful with the words here. The ICJ is the final decider about one specific definition of genocide. However, there is nothing that says that is the sole valid definition of genocide. In fact:

          According to Ernesto Verdeja, associate professor of political science and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, there are three ways to conceptualise genocide other than the legal definition: in academic social science, in international politics and policy, and in colloquial public usage.

          • The academic social science approach does not require proof of intent,[11] and social scientists often define genocide more broadly.[12]
          • The international politics and policy definition centres around prevention policy and intervention and may actually mean “large-scale violence against civilians” when used by governments and international organisations.
          • Lastly, Verdeja says the way the general public colloquially uses “genocide” is usually “as a stand-in term for the greatest evils”.[11] This is supported by political scientist Kurt Mundorff who highlights how to the general public genocide is “simply mass murder carried out on a grand scale”.[13]

          Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_definitions

          • lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com
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            2 days ago

            You are saying “Be careful with the words here” and that there a different definitions…

            I am the one here who is careful with the G-word. Others just throw that word in (of course without mentioning which definition they refer to)…

            Let’s be honest: In the end, the legal definition (and therefore the legal decision) is the one that has actual consequences.

            • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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              2 days ago

              The definition you insist on is not the only one with consequences. Arguably, in the Trump-Netanyahu era, the legal one might be the one with the least amount of consequences…

              It also not the one used for the English Wikipedia. I told you to be careful with words because you were using the legal definition to argue against the scholarly one. Sticking to the legal definition doesn’t make you careful per se. And I’m not sure I understand what “throwing around” is happening here. This is not the Lord’s name to not be taken in vain.

      • lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com
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        3 days ago

        “They should not be the final authority anymore.” And who should be? Creating something new that the whole world agrees on seems like a hard task right now.

        I’d rather accuse a country of genocide too soon than being a fucking denialist.

        It’s not that we agree on whether it’s a war or whether children die. It’s a Genocide accusation, which is pretty much the hardest accusation possible. My view: I don’t want to accuse a country too soon.

        I’d rather get called a denialist for now reason (just, because I don’t throw the hardest accusation on the target) than potentially having to back-pedal later. I think, that our language(s) has/have a lot of potential to describe the terrible things that happened in Israel on Oct 7th and in Gaza since then (which is the opposite of denial) without using the word “Genocide” like there was already a decision by the ICJ.

        What are you afraid off? Less people dying?

        What is your hope by using the word before there is a ICJ decision? Less people dying? Because I don’t see a causal connection there.