For the past two years, the same inflammatory word - “genocide”- has been used to portray Med Israel for fred (MIFF), Europe’s largest non-religious pro-Israel membership organization, as a legitimate target at Norway’s largest democracy festival.
Last year, then-leader of the Palestine Committee of Norway, Line Khateeb, vandalized MIFF’s tent at Arendalsuka by writing “genocide” on it. She later accepted the police fine and paid compensation to MIFF.
However, this year, the attacks escalated on the first night. Our tent was cut open, “genocide” was written repeatedly all over it, the Star of David in our logo was slashed, and the word “peace” was cut out. Days later, our tent was vandalized again, and the material about the sexual crimes that were carried out by Hamas on October 7 was thrown outside.
That should trouble everyone, regardless of their views on Israel.
Like any other pro-Israel and pro-West organization, we promote evidence-based information about Israel, the Jewish people, and the Middle East to build greater understanding. At Arendalsuka, our volunteers manned an open stand throughout the week, inviting supporters, critics, and curious individuals to ask difficult questions and engage in debate. We distributed information and hosted an open meeting with Daily Mail correspondent Nathalie Lisbona on the documented sexual and gender-based violence which was carried out on October 7.
MIFF responds to disagreement with conversation. Others respond by vandalizing our tent.
And this is not an isolated incident. Since October 7, 2023, MIFF has documented multiple, repeated harassment at pro-Israel gatherings, including a student being head-butted after writing “Free Israel” and graffiti at Grimstad which read “Kill Jews.”
The Gaza genocide accusation – or what we call the Gaza GenoLIE - matters because rhetoric has consequences. When Israel is described not just as wrong, but as genocidal, and its supporters are implicated as accomplices to humanity’s ultimate crime, the boundary between political criticism and collective guilt begins to collapse. Zionists, Jews and non-Jews alike become a target for incitement and violence simply because they support the right of the Jewish state to exist.
Exposing the GenoLIE
This unacceptable reality prompted us to join the now-viral educational initiative, the “Gaza GenoLIE.” In a rare sign of unity, over 70 organizations from 15 countries united for a public campaign available at GazaGenoLIE.com. The website explains the 8 pieces of the “GenoLIE” to show how the genocide narrative was created, amplified, and weaponized by Hamas and its supporters around the world.
One of the puzzle pieces shows how the anti-Israel, antisemitic networks deeply distorted and manipulated the very specific international legal framework of the term “genocide” to blame the people who genuinely experienced the Holocaust and several attempts at their annihilation – including on October 7 – of the most serious international crime of all.
Another piece of the Gaza GenoLIE puzzle explores how Hamas employs a deliberate human shield strategy, cynically using the people of Gaza as a defensive asset to protect Hamas and its terror goals. For years, Hamas used the humanitarian aid that the world sent to build a massive underground tunnel network under Gazan cities, specifically creating entrances under civilian sites like schools, hospitals, mosques and children’s rooms.
Like in all liberal democracies, criticism of the Israeli government’s actions is legitimate and acceptable. But when the GenoLIE accusation becomes a permission slip to intimidate, vandalize, or attack Jewish people and Israel supporters, democratic society has crossed a dangerous line.
Defenders of freedom and justice must not allow disinformation and antisemitism to prevail. Join us in supporting the truth and combating what has become one of the biggest antisemitic lies of the 21st century – the Gaza GenoLIE.
Conrad Myrland is the CEO of Med Israel for Fred (MIFF, With Israel for peace). He leads MIFF’s pro-Israel work in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Adam Milstein.