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‘I’m a Genocide Scholar’ … And I’ve Been Prepping My NYT Genocide Case Against Israel for Years
The headquarters of The New York Times. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
“I’m a genocide scholar,” proclaims the headline of Omer Bartov’s recent guest essay in The New York Times. And therefore, he assures us, “I know it when I see it.”
Except this isn’t the first time that Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, has thought he saw genocide, or something like it, in Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians.
In fact, it’s not even the first time since last year.
Although Bartov opens the piece by saying that “a month after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023,” the situation “did not seem to me to rise to the crime of genocide,” a quick review of his public record suggests he had been laying the groundwork for this accusation long before the war in Gaza began.
July 2025 wasn’t some dramatic moral epiphany he revealed to readers of The New York Times. Bartov had already publicly declared Israel’s actions a genocide back in December 2024 in an interview with the fringe website Democracy Now! His NYT op-ed is simply a polished retread of that declaration.
In the Times piece, Bartov writes:
By May 2024, the Israel Defense Forces had ordered about one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah […] to move to the beach area of the Mawasi, where there was little to no shelter. The army then proceeded to destroy much of Rafah, a feat mostly accomplished by August.
He concludes that at this point, “it appeared no longer possible to deny” that Israeli operations matched what he calls statements “denoting genocidal intent.”
A strong consensus has formed: there is no genocide in Gaza. Over 50 leading international law, genocide & military experts have rejected the claim. A false narrative pushed by a minority of loud voices falls apart under factual and legal scrutiny. Detail & sources below: 1/ pic.twitter.com/cWxX7IjAe8
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) May 20, 2025
But Bartov’s definition of genocide has always been suspiciously elastic, at least when it comes to Israel. And his eagerness to draw Holocaust analogies long predates this war.
In 2019, Bartov signed an open letter in The New York Review of Books attacking the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for criticizing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)’s use of the phrase “concentration camps” to describe US immigration detention centers.
The Museum had objected to invoking Holocaust-era language for partisan ends. Bartov disagreed, calling the Museum’s stance “fundamentally ahistorical,” and claiming it undermined Holocaust memory and education.
In other words, Bartov has a habit of defending far-fetched analogies, so long as they point in the direction he favors.
This pattern continues in his commentary on Israel.
In May 2021, during a short war triggered by a Hamas rocket barrage on Israeli civilians, Bartov wasn’t focused on terrorism, incitement, or Hamas’ genocidal charter. Instead, he urged American universities to “teach about Israeli state violence against Palestinians” and to feature “Palestinian scholars and activists” in conferences on genocide and mass violence. He has used the term “Nakba” (catastrophe in Arabic) to describe modern Israel’s founding in 1948, when the new Jewish State was attacked by a coalition of neighboring Arab armies that sought its total destruction.
When the New York Times Needs a (Jewish Israeli) Genocide Scholar
When The New York Times wants to amplify accusations of genocide against Israel, it doesn’t turn to fringe activists or anonymous social media accounts. It finds a Jewish Israeli professor willing to say it in their pages. Bonus points if he’s spent years blurring the definition of genocide and repurposing “Never Again” for unrelated political causes.
Let’s also be honest. Identity politics plays a role here. The Times knows that featuring a Jewish Israeli lends the accusation a veneer of credibility and “internal dissent.” It’s not subtle. It’s strategic.
But if we’re going to talk about genocidal intent, we have to look at the actual statements Bartov cites.
HonestReporting board member Salo Aizenberg has done just that, and found Bartov’s examples either wildly out of context or plainly misrepresented.
Phrases like “the enemy will pay a huge price” or “turning Hamas strongholds into rubble” are spun as genocidal, despite clearly referring to Hamas. Warnings for civilians to evacuate are presented as evidence of extermination. Even Netanyahu’s use of the biblical phrase “Amalek,” found on memorials at Yad Vashem and The Hague, is treated as uniquely sinister.
Bartov’s case, in short, relies on selective quoting and distortion. (Full breakdown embedded below.)
1/ pic.twitter.com/nmktkfaaq1
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) July 16, 2025
And when the main Israeli leadership fails to meet even the loosest standard for genocidal intent, Bartov simply pivots to fringe figures with no operational control, like Smotrich or Nissim Vaturi. That move alone concedes how weak his central thesis really is.
The New York Times wants readers to see Bartov’s genocide declaration as a bold moral stand. But it isn’t. It’s the culmination of years of unfair and unfounded accusations against the Jewish State, now rebranded as expert opinion.
What else is new?
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post ‘I’m a Genocide Scholar’ … And I’ve Been Prepping My NYT Genocide Case Against Israel for Years first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Some 800,000 Palestinians Evacuate from Gaza City as Israeli Defense Minister Says Operation to Ramp Up
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that more than 750,000 Palestinian residents of Gaza City have fled to safe areas as the IDF ramps up its operation against one of the last major Hamas strongholds in the enclave. The military subsequently revised the figure up to 800,000.
Katz said Israel ramped up the attacks, proceeding to what he called the “decisive” phase of its operation.
“Autonomous explosive-laden military vehicles are being deployed in advance of the troops to defuse explosives, and the fire cover to protect the troops from the air and ground is heavy and strong,” he posted to his account on the X platform.
“Gaza City is emptying because its residents realize the military operation is escalating and move south for their own safety,” said Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.
The Israeli military was in control of over half of Gaza City, sources familiar with the matter told Israeli media on Saturday.
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Trump Says ‘We Will Get It Done’ in the Middle East
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday about reaching a deal to end the war in Gaza, saying there is “a real chance for greatness in the Middle East,” ahead of talks on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump did not provide specific details of a prospective ceasefire-for-hostages agreement in Gaza, but Vice President JD Vance told “Fox News Sunday” that top US officials are immersed in “very complicated” negotiations with Israeli and Arab leaders.
“We have a real chance for Greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special, first time ever. We will get it done,” Trump said in a Truth Social post that was issued as he rode in his motorcade to his suburban Virginia golf club.
Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House with the aim of reaching a framework for a deal, according to administration officials.
Trump said on Friday talks on Gaza with Middle Eastern nations were intense and that Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants were aware of the discussions, which he said would continue as long as required.
Vance described himself as “cautiously hopeful” about reaching a deal.
“I feel more optimistic about where we are right now than where we have been at any point in the last few months, but let’s be realistic, these things can get derailed at the very last minute,” he said.
He said the plan has three main components: Returning all hostages, ending the Hamas threat to Israel, and escalating humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“So I think we’re close to accomplishing all three of those objectives,” Vance said.
When international leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York this week, the US unveiled a 21-point Middle East peace plan to end the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
That plan calls for the return of all hostages, living and dead, no further Israeli attacks on Qatar and a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for “peaceful coexistence,” a White House official said.
Israel angered Qataris by launching an airstrike against Hamas targets in their capital Doha on September 9.
A Hamas representative said on Saturday that the group had not seen the US plan.
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Hamas Says It Lost Contact with Two Hostages as Tanks Thrust Deeper into Gaza City
A mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza near the border, in Israel, September 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Hamas said on Sunday it had lost contact with two Israeli hostages held in Gaza City, and called on Israel to pull troops back and suspend air strikes for 24 hours so fighters could retrieve the captives.
The fate of the two hostages, which has strong domestic resonance in Israel, could cast a shadow over a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump on Monday.
Israel has launched a massive ground assault on Gaza City, flattening whole districts and ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee to tented camps, in what Netanyahu says is a bid to destroy Hamas once and for all in its final bastion.
Nevertheless, the past few days have seen increasing talk of steps towards a diplomatic resolution to the nearly two-year-old war. Trump said on Friday that a deal on Gaza seemed likely.
HAMAS SAYS IT HAS NOT RECEIVED NEW PEACE PROPOSAL
Hamas said earlier on Sunday that it had not yet received a new proposal to end the war. Netanyahu says Hamas must lay down its arms or be defeated. The militant group has so far said it will never give up its weapons as long as Palestinians are struggling for a state.
The Hamas military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, called on the Israeli military to pull troops back from the Sabra and Tel Al-Hawa districts southeast of Gaza City’s center, and suspend flights over the area for 24 hours from 1500 GMT so it could reach the two trapped hostages.
The Israeli military did not directly comment on the request but made clear it had no plans to halt its advances, issuing a statement ordering all residents of parts of Gaza City including the Sabra district to leave. It said it was about to attack Hamas targets and raze buildings in the area.
Gaza residents and medics said Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Sabra, Tel Al-Hawa and nearby Sheikh Radwan and Al-Naser neighbourhoods, closing in on the heart of the city and western areas where hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering.
RESCUERS UNABLE TO REACH TRAPPED RESIDENTS
Local health authorities said they had been unable to respond to dozens of desperate calls from trapped residents.
Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, sent via international organizations, to let it rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The families of the two hostages identified by Hamas have requested that their names not be published by the media.
Hamas precipitated the war when it attacked Israeli territory in October, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages. Forty-eight hostages are still in Gaza, of whom Netanyahu says 20 are believed still alive.
The Israeli military says that Hamas, which ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, no longer has governing capacity and that its military force has been reduced to a guerrilla movement.
The Israeli military launched its long-threatened ground offensive on Gaza City on September 16 after weeks of intensifying strikes on the urban center.
Over the past 24 hours, the air force had struck 140 military targets across Gaza, including militants and what it described as military infrastructure, the military said.
The World Food Program estimates that between 350,000 and 400,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since last month, although hundreds of thousands remain. The Israeli military estimates that around a million Palestinians were in Gaza City in August.