The 2024 Jerusalem Fund Annual Conference opened with a powerful panel addressing Israel’s assault on Gaza as an act of genocide– examining the United States’ direct complicity in enabling these atrocities through military and political support. This panel brought together a distinguished group of experts to provide insights on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, offering historical, ethical, and policy-focused perspectives. Dr. Raz Segal, a leading genocide scholar and Holocaust historian, traced the roots of the current violence to the Nakba’s enduring legacy of displacement and ethnic cleansing, presenting damning evidence of genocidal intent, rhetoric, and acts, quoting directly from Israeli officials, soldiers, and civil society. Josh Paul, a former State Department official with over a decade of experience in U.S. defense diplomacy, shared his decision to resign in October 2023 over the Biden administration’s “blind support” for Israel, exposing the systematic silencing of dissenting voices that sought to humanize Palestinians or consider their needs as equal to those of Israelis. Paul also challenged the flawed American doctrine of “security for peace,” arguing that it has historically failed to uphold human rights and has made both Israelis and Palestinians far less safe. Similarly, Lily Greenberg Call, who resigned as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the Department of Interior in May 2024, condemned U.S. complicity in Gaza’s destruction, critiquing the weaponization of anti-Semitism to justify atrocities committed in the name of Jewish identity. Together, these speakers delivered a searing indictment of U.S. and Israeli policies, calling for accountability, justice, and a return to the principles of human rights and international law. The panel was moderated by Abdelhamid Siyam—professor, former UN spokesperson, and bureau chief of Al-Quds al-Arabi.
