'I don't believe it but I have to accuse Israel of genocide'

(JNS) — It feels necessary, due to political pressure, to accuse the Jewish state publicly of committing “genocide” in Gaza even though that charge is untrue, a New England legislator told JNS on background.

“I don’t think that ‘genocide’ is a term that can be used in the moment, in the fog of war,” the legislator told JNS. But there has been “so much mounting pressure” after lawmakers in the legislator’s state began accusing Israel of “genocide,” the lawmaker said.

“Nobody was going to engage with me, or even talk to me, or not just throw me in some bucket if I wasn’t willing to say that,” the legislator told JNS. “They didn’t want to hear anything else that I wanted to say. They just wanted to hear whether or not I was going to use that word.”

The legislator also felt such pressure from news outlets that reached out for comment on the matter, the person said.

“Depending on how you answer this question, are you going to be able to stay relevant in this conversation or be able to offer anything to this conversation unless you use this word they want to hear or not hear?” the legislator said.

The lawmaker added that the situation in Gaza is not a major issue for constituents and that colleagues in the state are in the same position, but “what becomes very apparent is that it doesn’t matter.”

“You can use that word, and I did, and it really made absolutely no difference in their narrative,” the legislator told JNS.

Kurt Schwartz, CEO of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, told JNS that “Jewish and pro-Israel communities, facing ever-increasing levels of antisemitism that are frequently expressed in hate, threats and violence, are too often let down by the response of community and elected leaders.”

“This is not a time to cower. This is not a time for equivocation,” Schwartz said. “It is a time for moral clarity, leadership and strong voices denouncing bald lies such as the genocide libel.”

Schwartz added that “politicians who shirk their obligations and lie to pass political litmus tests are failing their constituents, failing to recognize that strong voices and leadership are needed in these challenging times and are contributing to the dangerous escalation of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate.”

“We should remember the quote often attributed to Edmund Burke,” he said. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”