Visual documentation of a genocide

JVL Introduction

The ever excellent Forensic Architecture has this month produced an astonishingly detailed report of the atrocities inflicted on Gaza over the past (almost) 13 months. The accumulation of information is distressing, depressing and it is vital that we know and have so much information in one place.  Using mainly a map of Gaza and  timelines, this presents a visual representation of what people in Gaza have been experiencing.

You can focus on specific aspects of the destruction, using tabs for information in terms of: displacement, the ground invasion, urban destruction, destruction of civilian life, destruction of the road network, destruction of medical facilities, destruction of agricultural and water resources, targeting of aid and spatial control.

The UK Foreign Secretary said on Monday, October 28th that calling the Israeli operation in Gaza a genocide “undermines the seriousness” of the term and past genocides.  We would ask that he looks at the information amassed by Forensic Architecture or, if he does not have time for that, reads the internationally agreed Definitions of Genocide and Related Crimes or even just these lines, all but one of which would surely apply to what Israel is doing (my emph Ed):

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

There is guidance on when to use the term genocide that notes:  ” According to Article IX of the Genocide Convention, disputes
related to its interpretation, application and fulfilment, including State responsibility, should be addressed to the ICJ.” This is currently happening, thanks mainly to South Africa and the ICJ has already said that this is plausibly a genocide.

LL

This article was originally published by Forensic Architecture. Read the original here.