Amos Goldberg

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Amos Goldberg is a professor in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, also sitting on the institute's editorial board. [1] Since the 2024 Israel-Hamas War began, Goldberg has accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza. [2]

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Goldberg opposes the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance , saying that "It has become a tool to silence any criticism of Israeli politics, it has become a tool to silence free speech". Instead, he supports the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. [3]

Amos Goldberg stated that Israel's actions in Gaza display all the characteristics of genocide, pointing to clear intent from top officials, widespread incitement, and a pervasive dehumanization of Palestinians within Israeli society. [4] [5]

Goldberg has stated that Israel's actions during the 2024 Israel-Hamas War amount to genocide. (See Gaza genocide.) [6] [7] He came to the view six months into the war as he noted a surge of genocidal rhetoric across media, politics, and public discourse. While he affirmed his belief in Israel’s right to self-defense following the October 7 attack, he criticized the Israeli governments response as a 'criminal overreaction.' In the view of Goldberg: [2]

What is happening in Gaza is a genocide because Gaza does not exist anymore. It was completely destroyed. The level and pace of indiscriminate killing of a huge amount of innocent people, including in what Israel designated as a safe zone, destruction of houses, infrastructures, almost all the hospitals and universities, mass displacement, deliberate famine, the crushing of elites (including the killing of journalists, doctors, professors, civil servants...) and the sweeping dehumanization of Palestinians, create an overall picture of genocide.

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References

  1. "Prof. Amos Goldberg". The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Amos Goldberg: 'What is happening in Gaza is a genocide because Gaza does not exist anymore'" . Le Monde . 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  3. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "The Jerusalem Declaration: redefining antisemitism? | DW | 17 June 2021". DW.COM. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  4. Feroz, Elias. "Israeli Historian: This Is Exactly What Genocide Looks Like". Jacobin . Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  5. "'Yes, it is genocide' in Gaza says Israeli professor of Holocaust studies". Middle East Monitor . 30 April 2024. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. Project, The Palestine (18 April 2024). "Yes, it is genocide". Medium. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  7. מקומית, שיחה (17 April 2024). "כן, זה רצח עם". שיחה מקומית (in Hebrew). Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  8. Gilbert, Shirli (April 2019). "Amos Goldberg, Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing During the Holocaust". Psychoanalysis and History. 21 (1): 127–130. doi:10.3366/pah.2019.0288.
  9. Budryte, Dovile (2021). "Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing During the Holocaust by Amos Goldberg (review)". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 35 (1): 106–108. ISSN   1476-7937.
  10. "Trauma in First Person". Reading Religion.