Bartov Vs. Morris: Is It Genocide?

Is Israel defending itself – or executing a calculated genocide?

That’s the question on deck tonight at 7 pm ET, live on ZeroHedge’s homepage and X.

Two heavyweight historians—Omer Bartov, Dean’s Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Brown University, and famed Israeli historian Benny Morris—will go head-to-head.

The moderator: Mario Nawfal, the journalist with 2M+ followers on X.

Bartov: “A deliberate strategy of slow‑moving genocide”

Bartov pulls zero punches. In his New York Times op-ed titled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It,” he declares:

“My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people…” 

He warns the stakes are existential—not just for Gaza, but for the very foundations of international law. Bartov charges that—by now—it’s beyond debate:

The destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, hospitals, museums, universities and “anything that would make it possible for a population after a war to try to reconstitute itself” can’t be ignored as anything less than genocidal intent.

Bartov draws a connection between IDF rhetoric and the dehumanizing language of history’s darkest episodes:

Israeli leaders have likened Gazans to “human animals”, invoking “genocidal echos” reminiscent of Wehrmacht-era ideology.

Morris: “Genocide Is a False and Grotesque Accusation”

Morris has been equally blunt in rebuttal.

“Accusing Israel of genocide is historically false, morally grotesque, and strategically destructive.” 

For him, the word “genocide” is being cynically deployed:

“The charge is not an analysis—it is a weapon. A weapon to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist.”

Morris acknowledges Gaza has been devastated, but insists intent matters.

“Genocide means a will to annihilate an entire people. That is not Israel’s objective. Israel is fighting Hamas—an organization openly committed to Israel’s destruction—not the Palestinian people as a whole.”

He warns that blurring those distinctions undermines both truth and law:

“When everything becomes genocide, nothing is.”

We’ll see you tonight at 7pm ET.