Lexicological Disjunction in Israel’s Gaza War Rhetoric and the Western Complicity

Abstract

This article examines the construction and framing of Israel’s rhetoric in the Gaza War and its adverse effects on the lexicology of the word genocide and crime of genocide. This paper also quizzes Western complicity in the construction and reification of pro-Israeli genocidal speech. The central argument of this paper is that by denying that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, Israel and its Western European and American allies have colluded in disrupting the common understanding of genocide as contemplated in the Genocide Convention and universally understood. Furthermore, the West’s discursive assault on the concept of genocide fatally corrupted the term and its broader applicability. The immediate consequences of this corruption are the lives of over 37,000 innocent lives in Gaza as of June 2024, the disruption of international law, and potentially, the commission of more similar crimes in the future, which will result in even greater global instability. This paper will rely on a close reading and analysis of published pro-Israel speeches by Israeli, the European Union, and the United States’ leaders and influential political figures. These statements will be analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis, Articulation Theory and Hermeneutics.