'Unequivocally', 'quite evident', 'justified': Young Americans back genocide charges against Israel

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) moves forward on genocide charges against Israel for its war conduct in the besieged Gaza Strip, a growing number of Americans are supporting the allegations.

That has been particularly true among young voting-age Americans.

Polling released Wednesday indicates that those aged 18 - 29 are far more likely to agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza than other age groups.

Forty-nine percent said so, compared to a little more than one-third of the general public, according to data from the Economist/YouGov poll.

Anadolu asked more than 100 people in the nation's capital, all of whom fit into the 18 - 29 age group used in the survey, if they would be willing to speak on the record about their views on Gaza.

The vast majority declined after hearing the word "Gaza," but of the eight who would speak on the record, all agreed Israel's conduct constitutes genocide.

“I think it’s an unjust, Apartheid-esque killing of masses of people. That is a genocide," Zachariah John, a 20-year-old junior at Georgetown University told Anadolu during an interview just off the campus grounds.

The sentiments were shared by all of those with whom Anadolu spoke.

Justin, a 21-year-old Georgetown student who did not provide his surname, concurred with John, saying he "unequivocally" believes Israel is carrying out genocide in the coastal enclave, whether looking at the strict legal definition, or what many people assume.

"Even in just the popular understanding of genocide, I think this is genocide. It's just happening at maybe a slower pace than what Americans think genocide is. I think most people would agree that the Holocaust is the worst genocide in history. But that doesn't mean that nothing can hold a candle to it in terms of it being genocide," he said.

"I think that what's happening now is an ongoing one, and in 40 years, the people who said nothing will realize that it was genocide, except then it will be too late to do something about it," he added.

Caitlin, another 21-year-old Georgetown student who also declined to give her last name, said it is "quite evident" that Israel is conducting genocide.

"Israel has clearly violated so many parts of the Geneva Conventions. We see videos from journalists in Gaza of buildings that are housing civilians being bombed, children who are being indiscriminately slaughtered, we see pictures of men being rounded up and are stripped and kneeling on the ground. All of these clear violations of human rights are happening in front of the world, and the US government, and so many other Western governments are continuing to fund Israel despite all of that," she said.

The ICJ issued its interim ruling Friday in which it ordered Israel to take "all measures within its power" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, but fell short of mandating a cease-fire.

South Africa brought the case late last month and asked the court to grant emergency measures to end the bloodshed in Gaza where more than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7. The vast majority of the confirmed dead, roughly two-thirds, have been women and children.

Thousands more are assumed dead under the rubble after Israel's war laid waste to wide swathes of the coastal enclave.

By 15 votes to two, the ICJ said: “The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention.”

"At least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the (Genocide) Convention," said the judges.

The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

Acts of genocide include killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a group in whole or in part.

Regarding the blockade of humanitarian assistance and services, the Hague-based court said Israel “shall take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

Asked about the ruling, Marina Mcphaill, a 22-year-old junior at Georgetown, said the genocide charges are "justified" based on what she has seen and read about the war. She said the case that is being prosecuted against Israel is "fair."

The decision handed down is "probably the right call," she said. "I think it's a challenging decision to make, because of all the political implications, not that it's like picking a side, but it does seem to be a really divisive domestic political issue as well as an international one. So, I think it's the right decision, but we'll see.”

Kyndall Jackson, an 18-year-old Georgetown freshman, said the ruling is "positive," but she does not "think it's enough, because charges, again, are just charges.

"It doesn't mean that anything will be done to fix what's going on," she said. "I don't think anything can really be done to fix the lives that are being lost."