When Is It Genocide?
About this episode
Klein asks whether international law's definition of genocide can capture what's happening in Gaza, interviewing Philippe Sands, a lawyer who has tried genocide cases. They trace the concept's origins: Raphael Lemkin's coining of 'genocide' versus Hersch Lauterpacht's rival idea of crimes against humanity, and their uneasy compromise in the 1948 Genocide Convention and at Nuremberg. Sands argues the convention set the bar too high — especially the 'intent to destroy' requirement — creating a hierarchy of crimes that fuels endless definitional fights. Applied to Gaza, he discusses South Africa's ICJ case, statements by Israeli leaders (the Amalek reference, 'the entire nation is responsible,' starvation policies), and whether Lemkin himself would see genocide there. He concludes the label matters less than stopping the suffering, criticizing both legalistic indifference and the dehumanization driving the war.