What would the creator of the term "genocide" think right now?

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     June 4, 2024 Hello. My name is Jacob Rosenberg, an articles editor here at Mother Jones. For our print magazine, I edited a column called Mother Tongue. It's a chance for writers to take a look at the history of a word or phrase and unpack how it slipped its way into our lives. For the last issue, Noah Lanard—a reporter here who has taken on reporting about [Israel’s war on Gaza](, with a particular focus on the [history of President Joe Biden](—wrote about the [history of "genocide."]( Yesterday, we [published]( his incisive piece. I hope you’ll give it a read. “Genocide” was the coinage of Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who hoped to create a crime to ensure an internationally policed peace in a new, supposedly civil world. As Noah writes: Lemkin was a lawyer, not a sociologist. By birthing the term "genocide," he was not trying to taxonomize the horrors of war. Instead, Lemkin—who lost 49 family members in the Holocaust—hoped that he could identify a crime to stop it. Nazi terror could not simply be Germany's "internal problem." With genocide, Lemkin hoped to give legal and moral weight to international intervention. As debates of genocide have become common since October 7, and as Israel stands accused by South Africa before the International Court of Justice for its methods in the war on Gaza, it is worth revisiting the wider history of the charge. Are we failing the promises “genocide” offered? And if so, how? Give the full, [probing article a read here](. —Jacob Rosenberg Advertisement [Bloody Tuesday]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Biden Announces New Border Crackdown]( "Biden is now fully embracing Trump's policies as his own." BY ISABELA DIAS MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE   MOTHER JONES NEEDS YOUR HELP Straight to the point: Donations have been concerningly slow for our hugely important First $500,000 fundraising campaign. We urgently need your help, and a lot of help, over the next few weeks so we can pay for the one-of-a-kind journalism you get from us. Learn more in “[Less Dreading, More Doing](,” where we lay out this wild moment and how we can keep charging hard for you. And please help if you can: $5, $50, or $500—[every gift from every person]( truly matters right now. [Donate]( [Trending] [Can capitalism solve the climate crisis? Tom Steyer thinks so.]( BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN   [Biden suggests Netanyahu may be dragging out war for political gain]( BY JULIANNE MCSHANE   [It's time to restore some sanity to the internet]( BY JAMES CHADWICK   [Tribes invited to "co-steward" federal land would rather "co-manage" it]( BY TAYLAR DAWN STAGNER Advertisement [Bloody Tuesday]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [How we've failed the promise of making “genocide” a crime]( The lawyer Raphael Lemkin hoped to use international law to curb abuses of power. But his efforts were curtailed from the start. BY NOAH LANARD Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755