Elaine Braffman’s Viewpoint of Sept. 3 attempts to cast doubt on the moral crisis of our time by ignoring the legal definition of genocide and the horrendous death, destruction, and famine occurring in Gaza.
A single historical example or a set number of victims does not define genocide. Instead, “Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent” –inferred or explicit- “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:
- Killing members of the group;
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
Braffman’s effort to minimize Israel’s crimes finds no support in fact or law. But don’t take our word for it, listen to world experts. Early on in Israel’s assault on Gaza, more than 800 scholars and practitioners of international law and genocide studies signed a public statement “to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” Such concern arose not only from Israel’s ruthless bombing of civilians but from the many statements of genocidal intent spewing from Israeli leaders.
The International Court of Justice’s interim ruling in January 2024 ordered Israel to prevent genocide, punish incitement to genocide, and enable provisions of basic services and humanitarian assistance to reach Gaza. In March 2024, the ICJ further ordered Israel to stop the invasion of Rafah and to reopen the Rafah crossing to humanitarian aid deliveries. But Israel ignored these provisional measures.
Amnesty International issued a report in December 2024 that “Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.” Likewise, Human Rights Watch concluded that “Israeli authorities” were “responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide. Professor Omar Bartov, who had previously served in the Israeli Defense Force, reached the “inescapable conclusion” in July 2025 that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. In July, B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization recognized that “the Israeli regime is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
The International Association of Genocide Scholars declared on August 31, 2025, that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.” On September 16, the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory published a report that Israel has committed genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 17, 2023.
Each day, Israel starves Palestinian children and murders and maims more civilians with the Trump administration’s support. On September 18, the U.S. cast its sixth veto on a U.N. Security Council resolution concerning a Gaza ceasefire. A report issued by Brown University’s Cost of War Project estimates that in the one year ending September 30, 2024, the U.S. government provided $22.76 billion in military-related aid to Israel.
Just before leaving office, the Biden administration notified Congress of additional munitions sales totaling $8 billion that the Trump administration subsequently approved. In February 2025, the State Department approved $6.75 billion in munitions sales, including 500-pound bombs. A missile sales package, valued at $660 million, was also approved in February 2025. In July 2025, the State Department approved $510 million sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
As of September 2025, the confirmed death toll in Gaza surpassed 65,000, including more than 20,000 children and 1,000 babies under one year old. Even though 84% of the American electorate favors an immediate ceasefire, Congress, in contravention of the Leahy Law, continues its unconditional support for Israel.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut joined with Republicans in July in opposing the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval that would limit certain weapons to Israel, supported by 27 senators, including Sen. Chris Murphy. Thus far, U.S. Reps. John Larson, Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, Jim Himes, and Jahana Hayes have refused to unite with 49 congressional Democrats to co-sponsor H.R. 3565 to ban weapons to Israel.
We guess that Elaine Braffman is quite happy with that result. But as for us, and most of the Connecticut electorate, we do not want our government and tax dollars supporting Israel’s Gaza genocide.
Khaled Al Qaddumi of South Windsor is Chairman and John Fussell a Board Member of WeWillReturn.org.