I found Howard Jacobson’s opinion piece concerning the use of the word genocide in relation to the conflict in the Middle East troubling in the extreme, especially his suggestion that the word should in some way be barred when referring to the actions of the state of Israel (“Charging Jews with genocide is to declare them guilty of what was done to them”, Comment).
Does he really believe that the genocide visited on the Jewish people in the 20th century precludes people of Jewish descent from committing a genocide themselves in the 21st? Or is it merely that they should be excused the accusation, given the weight of the word?
