StandWithUs rejects Scott Wiener’s false accusation of “genocide,” in response to pressure from anti-Israel extremists during his run for Congress. Regardless of his role in California’s Legislative Jewish Caucus (LJC) or State Senate, Wiener’s statement does not represent California’s Jewish community or the truth. He should have stepped down as LJC co-chair long before taking such positions, and we urge him to resign immediately.
Whether Wiener truly believes the big lie or changed his stance to improve his electoral prospects, the accusation he repeated is categorically false. According to the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide involves “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”
The October 7th War has been horrific for Israelis, and devastating for Palestinians caught between the IDF and Hamas in Gaza. In this war, there is only one side truly seeking to commit genocide: Hamas, a terrorist group that openly calls for the murder of Jews and destruction of Israel. Hamas terrorists brutally massacred, tortured, raped, and kidnapped people in Israel on October 7, 2023. They murdered over 1,200 and took 251 hostages into Gaza, including babies, the elderly, and Holocaust survivors. Hamas then promised to repeat these genocidal acts until Israel is destroyed. The only thing stopping them from committing a full-scale genocide against Jews is the Israel Defense Forces.
Instead of protecting Palestinian civilians during the war, Hamas terrorists treated them as “necessary sacrifices” and then exploited their suffering through false accusations of genocide. Shamefully, some media outlets, organizations, and politicians have spread this big lie, which is designed to fuel hatred around the world and help Hamas continue its reign of terror in Gaza.
In reality, the Israeli leaders who have made all the key decisions in this war stated countless times that their goal is not to harm Palestinian civilians, but to dismantle Hamas and free the hostages. While other ministers and politicians have made unacceptable statements that were widely condemned, they were not the ones deciding what the IDF does in Gaza. Israel used millions of calls, texts, leaflets, and other warnings to avoid harming Palestinian civilians and urge them to evacuate war zones. Since October 7, 2023, Israelis have helped deliver over 2 million tons of aid to civilians in Gaza, while Hamas stole baby formula and other supplies from its own people. To enforce IDF policies prohibiting the intentional targeting of civilians, Israeli authorities launched dozens of criminal investigations into the actions of their own soldiers in this war. If Israel’s political and military leaders wanted to “destroy” the Palestinian people in whole or in part, they would not have taken these steps.
No army has had to fight a genocidal enemy under the conditions IDF soldiers faced in Gaza. Hamas spent over 16 years ruthlessly militarizing as many homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, and other civilian buildings as possible across the territory. Many of these structures have tunnel entrances leading to over 300 miles of underground passages, which terrorists have used to hide weapons and torture hostages. Hamas has also booby-trapped homes all over Gaza with bombs.
None of this makes the suffering of Palestinian civilians any less horrific. All people of good will want the current ceasefire to lead to peace, and some may be repeating the big lie because they think it will help. But a lie repeated many times is still a lie. Tragically for both Israelis and Palestinians, Hamas has used this lie to stay in power and keep fighting a forever war to destroy Israel. At the same time, extremists have used the lie to fuel hatred, discrimination, and violence targeting Jews around the world.
Instead of making a terrible situation even worse, Scott Wiener and others who have repeated the big lie should apologize and correct the record, or resign.
