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lemkin institute for genocide prevention
Lemkin Institute Rebukes Clinton for Blaming Youth Outrage Over Gaza Genocide on TikTok
"Young people in the US are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide—something the secretary might consider."
Dec 10, 2025
The world's leading genocide prevention group this week accused former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of "outright genocide denial" for comments last week attributing young Americans' opposition to Israel's US-backed genocide in Gaza on social media.
Speaking last week at the Israel Hayom Summit in New York, Clinton asserted that young people's support for Palestine stems from the fact that they are "getting their information from social media, particularly TikTok," adding that many younger Jewish Americans “don’t know the history and don’t understand" the Israel-Palestine issue.
On Monday, the Philadelphia-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security—named for Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer and Holocaust survivor who coined the term genocide—published a statement arguing that "Secretary Clinton’s framing is not at all an accurate reflection of why Americans are growing more critical of Israel."
"Young Americans of all political stripes have not fallen prey to propaganda, though that is always a legitimate concern," the institute said. "Rather, they have consumed two years of videos depicting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians that have been uploaded by Palestinian journalists, ordinary people trying to survive in Gaza, [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers, and ordinary Israelis themselves."
"There has been no convincing refutation of the sheer amount of raw evidence of genocide coming out of Palestine," the institute contended. "Young people in the US are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide—something the secretary might consider doing as well."
Wow: Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (named for Holocaust survivor Raphael Lemkin, who coined term "genocide") calls Clinton's remarks "genocide denial.""Young people in the US are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide – something the Secretary might consider doing as well."
[image or embed]
— Prem Thakker ツ (@premthakker.bsky.social) December 9, 2025 at 11:15 AM
LIGP continued:
Secretary Clinton appears not to be bothered by the reality of genocidal violence—in fact, she did not mention anything about it. Her concern is, rather, in her words, “the narrative”—the fact that these crimes are no longer hidden and are now being livestreamed and documented in real time, making it harder for her and others to control it. TikTok cannot be blamed for the fact that many members of Gen Z understand that Israel is committing genocide, since so many other people, including those who never look at TikTok, also hold that view. Apart from the Lemkin Institute, the vast majority of large, mainstream human rights organizations, the [United Nations], and many scholars as well as international legal bodies have denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. Many carefully researched reports by international organizations have established that Israel’s crimes meet the international legal threshold for genocide. We encourage the former secretary to read them.
"The Lemkin Institute continues to support students and young people worldwide for having the courage to stand up for their convictions, to speak truth to power, and to fight against the scourge of genocide in Palestine and elsewhere," LIGP added. "Secretary Clinton’s remarks are not only inaccurate—they are also a shameful example of the lengths to which people complicit in genocide will go to to deny its existence."
The institute's rebuke of Clinton's comments came as the International Court of Justice in The Hague adjudicates a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa and supported by around two dozen nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who ordered the "complete siege" of Gaza that fueled famine and disease—are also wanted by the International Criminal Court, also located in the The Hague, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder and forced starvation.
Lemkin's denunciation also comes amid a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a truce Israeli forces have broken more than 500 times, according to officials in the Palestinian exclave. Israeli officials say Palestinian resistance fighters have violated the ceasefire more than 30 times.
Since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, Israel's annihilation and siege of Gaza have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and around 2 million more forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened. Israeli military data suggests that of the the more than 70,000 Palestinian deaths, over 8 in 10 were civilians.
Through it all, the United States has backed Israel with more than $21 billion worth of weaponry and diplomatic support including repeatedly vetoing United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolutions.
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Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention Backs Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla
"If Israel attacks or obstructs the flotilla, which we expect it will, it will only strengthen the case that it is committing genocide."
Sep 08, 2025
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security said Monday that it "stands in firm solidarity with all of the brave people aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, the international fleet of more than 50 boats that is headed toward Gaza to break the Israeli siege and deliver urgent humanitarian aid."
The US-based institute, named for the scholar who coined the term genocide after the Holocaust, has repeatedly spoken out against the Israeli assault on Gaza since October 2023, making clear that "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza" and "the US is complicit in genocide."
Over the past 23 months, Israeli forces have slaughtered more than 64,000 Palestinians in the strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has also severely restricted the flow of humanitarian aid, causing a famine that has killed nearly 400 people, including 140 children.
After a storm delay, the new flotilla—which uses the Arabic word for "perseverance" or "resilience"—departed Barcelona last week, with prominent passengers including the Spanish city's former mayor, Ada Colau, along with Irish actor Liam Cunningham, Portuguese politician Mariana Mortágua, American actress Susan Sarandon, and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela, joined the flotilla in Tunisia.
"Their courage is an act of conscience and civil resistance against injustice, carried out in the face of global institutional indifference and inaction. To the volunteers of the flotilla: You carry the conscience of the world. Your determination exposes the cowardice of governments," the Lemkin Institute said.
"Yet, let us be very clear: This mission should never have been necessary," the institute argued. "Members of civil society should never have to risk their lives to deliver what states and the international community have the legal and moral duty to guarantee: safety, humanitarian assistance, and protection from genocide."
"The very existence of this flotilla, with its delegations from more than 44 countries, including coalitions such as the Global Movement to Gaza (GMG) and the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, is a testament to the international failure," the group continued. "It is the consequence of state inaction, complicity, and silence in the face of the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians."
The institute highlighted that "this is not the first flotilla," pointing to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in June, and how Israel treated its members—particularly American Amazon labor organizer Chris Smalls, who was the only Black person on the Handala and was beaten by Israeli forces.
"Israel must not attack, arrest, or obstruct the Global Sumud Flotilla in any way. The participants must be allowed safe passage to Gaza and free delivery of urgently needed aid. Gaza needs food now. Gaza needs medicine now," the institute stressed. "If Israel attacks or obstructs the flotilla, which we expect it will, it will only strengthen the case that it is committing genocide."
Israel faces an ongoing South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over their country's conduct in Gaza. Netanyahu has been accused of dragging out the war to avoid a corruption trial in Israel.
"If Israel detains flotilla members as terrorists, as it has threatened to do, it will only further expose to the outside world the illegal detention and torture of Palestinians that it has been engaging in for decades," the Lemkin Institute said. "The 'international community' of elites may be easy to bully into silence, as we have seen. The global anti-genocide movement, on the other hand, will never be silenced."
"We call on all governments to ensure the safe passage of the flotilla and to protect their citizens aboard this humanitarian mission from arbitrary detention," the group concluded. "Above all, we urge all governments to protect Palestinian lives in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in East Jerusalem, in accordance with their obligations under the Genocide Convention."
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Trump Call for Evacuation of Tehran—A City of 10 Million—Denounced as 'Terroristic' Threat
"It's like telling the entire country of Sweden to evacuate," said one scholar.
Jun 17, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump's social media post urging residents of Tehran to evacuate "immediately"—a call shared online at 2:00 am local time—intensified chaos in the densely populated Iranian capital amid Israel's deadly bombing campaign.
"Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump wrote on his social media platform as Israel's war on Iran entered its fifth day.
Video footage that emerged in the wake of Trump's post showed a highway full of traffic as Iranians attempted to flee Israel's onslaught, which has killed or injured more than a thousand people so far. There have also been reports of long lines at gas stations, some of which have been forced to close after running out of fuel.
"They should've done the deal." President Donald Trump called for the evacuation of Iran's capital of Tehran after Israeli attacks on the country sent the region into conflict and uncertainty. pic.twitter.com/sjnFRVEcFN
— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) June 17, 2025
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention was among those condemning Trump's evacuation call for Tehran, denouncing it as a "terroristic" social media threat "unbecoming of a head of state." Tehran is home to around 10 million people, roughly equal to the population size of Israel.
"President Trump should be ashamed for being the lapdog of genocidaire and petty dictator Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, and for following in the obsequious footsteps of former U.S. President Joe Biden," the Lemkin Institute said in a statement. "We call on President Trump to deescalate the situation immediately by pulling the Israeli PM back from this war of aggression and by pursuing a robust and truly independent U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East."
Assal Rad, a Middle East scholar and fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, asked, "Where are 10,000,000 people supposed to evacuate to?"
"It's like telling the entire country of Sweden to evacuate," Rad wrote on social media. "Even if that was possible and they all had places to go, the traffic is not moving and gas is scarce. Even if they could all get out, what are they coming back to?"
Following his social media post, Trump signed a joint statement with other Group of Seven leaders calling for a "resolution of the Iranian crisis" that "leads to a broader deescalaton of hostilities in the Middle East, including a cease-fire in Gaza."
The Washington Post reported that Trump initially declined to sign the G7 statement "but reversed his position following discussions with other leaders in the group and changes to the initial draft."
An unnamed U.S. official would not tell the Post what specific changes secured Trump's backing, but the final "statement omitted language that called for both Iran and Israel 'to show restraint,' which appeared in an earlier draft of the agreement."
Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early, soon after calling for the evacuation of Tehran. The National Iranian American Council expressed hope that the president's evacuation message "does not mean an unauthorized U.S. entry into the war, or that he has knowledge of further depraved attacks from Israel."
Trump is planning to hold a meeting on Iran in the White House Situation Room with his national security team on Tuesday, Axios reported, as congressional opposition to deeper U.S. involvement in the war grows.
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