{
  "id": 19692013,
  "title": "Friday essay: to tackle the dreadful rise in antisemitism, we must speak the truth about Israel’s war crimes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/friday-essay-to-tackle-the-dreadful-rise-in-antisemitism-we-must",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-12T19:03:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Conversation AU",
    "slug": "the-conversation-au",
    "url": "https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-to-tackle-the-dreadful-rise-in-antisemitism-we-must-speak-the-truth-about-israels-war-crimes-296263"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the aftermath of Hamas' massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, some prominent Jews in Australia have defended the subsequent actions of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) against approximately 75,000 Gazan Palestinians. Among them is Lord Andrew Roberts, a British historian, who argued that Hamas' massacre of Israelis was an unspeakable moral crime, whereas the IDF's killings of innocent Palestinians could be considered an unfortunate consequence of warfare. Despite the IDF's refusal to challenge these estimates, Lord Roberts claimed that the number of Palestinian casualties had been greatly exaggerated.\n\nLord Roberts distinguished between the two incidents, stating that the Hamas killers were in a \"frenzy,\" committing foul and vicious acts similar to medieval warfare or historical atrocities such as the Japanese at the \"Rape of Nanking.\" He contrasted this with the IDF's warfare, which he described as \"totally different.\" The IDF, according to Lord Roberts, employed modern weaponry like tanks and planes, and aimed to eliminate Hamas terrorists while minimizing collateral damage. He attributed the high Palestinian death toll to Hamas' lack of concern for the lives of their own population, often using them as \"collateral damage.\"\n\nHowever, Yuval Abraham, the filmmaker behind the documentary NAZA, revealed that Israel had been using an AI program called \"Lavender\" to identify and target Hamas members. This allowed Israel to prioritize killing the highest-ranking Hamas officials, resulting in an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 civilian fatalities. The AI system, first disclosed in an April 3, 2024 article by 972 Magazine, has been criticized for its lack of transparency and potential for abuse.\n\nComparing the Hamas' actions in October 7 and the IDF's response, Lord Roberts suggests that the former was a frenzied, hate-filled killing, while the latter was a more civilized form of warfare. However, this comparison is problematic as it fails to recognize the systematic and organized nature of Hamas' attacks, which were deliberate acts of terror. On the other hand, the IDF's actions were a response to these attacks, designed to neutralize the threat posed by Hamas.\n\nThe issue of genocide, as mentioned by Jonathan Pearlman, a Jewish Quarterly editor, has been raised by Sir Simon Schama, a distinguished British historian. According to Schama, the IDF's actions constitute genocide, which is defined by the international law under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention outlines five specific acts that constitute genocide, including killing members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, inflicting serious harm on group members, or deliberately causing conditions that lead to the group's physical destruction.",
  "summary": "Robert Manne calls for thinkers like Simon Schama, publishers, and leaders of the Israel and Jewish lobbies like Jillian Segal, to speak the truth about Israel’s war.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}