On Thursday’s broadcast of WBUR’s “Here and Now,” Amnesty International Adviser Kristine Beckerle, who is one of the authors of the group’s report accusing Israel of genocide responded to arguments that Israel didn’t start the war, Hamas did on October 7, by stating that while October 7 was wrong, “the point is, that’s kind of a pivot to the conversation that we should be having after this report, which is saying Israel’s committing genocide, not against Hamas, but against Palestinians in Gaza.”
Co-host Robin Young asked, [relevant exchange begins around 2:45] “Israel’s U.N. ambassador responded that, in effect, Israel didn’t start this war. It was Hamas that was genocidal in the October 7 attack, which included rapes, hostage-taking, and threats to wipe out Israel. So, just briefly, respond to that.”
Beckerle responded, “Yeah, so, Amnesty is very clear on its position on the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel. We’ve documented atrocities that have happened on October 7. We’ve called for the release of the hostages many times. And, frankly, we’ve also called for accountability for what happened on October 7. But the point is, that’s kind of a pivot to the conversation that we should be having after this report, which is saying Israel’s committing genocide, not against Hamas, but against Palestinians in Gaza. … And what our report is looking at is the way in which Israel’s actions have impacted those Palestinians and the way in which Israel has demonstrated specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, not Hamas, Palestinians in Gaza, in whole or in part.”
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