Here's how to rebut 'genocide' like vaccine denialism
'This is not in the world of the subjective,' Mike Pesca explains.
When people argue that vaccines don’t work, the media shoots those claims down. Citing facts and evidence, big legacy media have no problem reporting that vaccines helped virtually eradicate smallpox, polio, measles, and other diseases.
But when people claim Israel carried out a “genocide” in Gaza, the same news agencies refuse to do the same thing: provide evidence to correct a demonstrably false claim. Mike Pesca, host of The Gist, argues that it’s time to fix this.
In an interview, we also discussed:
how the news industry lost its way
Mike’s wild media ride
how NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is making Jewish people “more vulnerable,” and more:
“There should be a rebuttal on the charge of genocide like there is a rebuttal on the charge of vaccine denialism,” he says. “Which is: ‘You know what? It’s not true, and it’s really not my opinion. This is not in the world of the subjective.’”
To people who have been swayed or even radicalized by false claims, either or both of these falsehoods might feel like truth. They might think, “But vaccines don’t work, and it was genocide! People with impressive sound titles say so!”
In fact, disproving the “genocide” lie is even simpler than disproving vaccine denial. No complex scientific explanations are necessary. All you need is the definition of the word and a basic look at reality.
‘Dolus specialis’
Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer from Poland, is credited with coining the term. “He needed for ‘genocide’ not just to be a concept, but a law,” Mike explains. Lemkin committed his life to making that happen. It worked. To this day, genocide is defined as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
“Genocide relies on having special intent, a ‘dolus specialis,’” Mike says. “There are courts that have looked at genocide claims, and they said if there’s any inference that can be drawn that their intent wasn’t to kill those specific people because they were a member of that ethnicity as such, then it’s not genocide. And you add that all up, what Israel’s doing is not genocide.”
As I’ve explained previously, people pushing the genocide libel are ignoring one of the two ingredients of truth: context. By taking disparate, partial quotes from Israeli leaders, leaving out other things these same people said, and erasing the history of warfare, they’re pretending to have non-existent proof of genocidal intent.
‘Giving away the game’
Two of the most prominent global forces pushing the genocide lie have acknowledged that they would need the term to be redefined for their accusations against Israel to stick: Ireland and Amnesty International. (See legal analysis here and here.)
“Ireland and Amnesty are giving away the game there,” Mike says. “On this one, take them at their word. You can’t prove genocide because it’s not genocide. Just like, ‘I’d like to change the definition of first-degree murder to include anyone who killed anyone for any reason.’ Well, it’s not first-degree murder.”
So if a friend insists it was genocide, what should you do? Ask your friend whether they believe there’s any evidence Israel’s intent was to get hostages returned and weaken or destroy a terrorist group. (The evidence is overwhelming.) “If your friend says, ‘Well, yes, I mean, that’s plausible,’ that’s it,” Mike says. “The discussion’s over.”
By this same definition, the Oct. 7, 2023 massacres, carried out by Hamas and other Gazan terrorists, were unquestionably genocidal.
Support and get unlimited access by becoming a paid subscriber, or fuel the effort with ☕. Supporters: Share your thoughts, questions, fact checking requests, and more in the comments or by messaging me.👊
JL
P.S. A new episode is out today! Stay tuned for a newsletter about it…
Mr. Levs, what are your thoughts on the 9/25/25 conclusions of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry that has decided Israel is committing Genocide? In addition, the International Association of Genocide Scholars has said Israel's actions meet the legal definition of genocide. Are these legitimate entities with fact-based findings?