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Last week, the U.N.s International Court of Justice convened at The Hague to hear arguments from South African representatives accusing the State of Israel of violating international law by carrying out a genocide to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.

Many influential figures across social media have agreed with the accusation, such as former UFC fighter Jake Shields who claims America is clashing with Yemen so that Israel can continue their genocide in Gaza.

South Africa has also been backed by many in the film industry. A video released last week by the Palestine Festival of Literature shows 29 actors from television series like Game of Thrones reading South Africas official case file.

So, is Israel actually committing genocide? The answer is simple absolutely not.

The term genocide was originally coined in 1944 by Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphel Lemkin in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. Lemkin created the term as a response to the systematic killing of the Jews in Nazi occupied Europe. He chose the Greek prefix genos, meaning race, and the latin suffix cide, which means killing.

So, to claim the only Jewish nation in the world formed by Holocaust survivors is carrying out the same crime that befell its ancestors just eight decades ago is something that should not be taken lightly.

According to Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the term is defined as a group of acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

All it takes is a single word in that definition to establish their innocence, intent.

A quick glance into Israels conduct in Gaza shows they have no intention of eradicating the Arabs who live there.

As Israeli Defense Forces combat Hamas, a terror organization who purposely embeds themselves in hospitals and civilian areas to use the general population as human shields, they take countless steps to save as many innocent lives as possible. For example, before an airstrike occurs, Israel often sends warning signs to civilians in the strike zone. These signs include roof knock warning bombs, leaflet droppings, direct phone calls, and even complete abandonment of strikes they cant clear out in time. One could argue that no nation on earth does more to prevent harm to civilians, because doing so can ultimately compromise the effectiveness of the operation.

A common argument made by critics, especially in response to the aforementioned point, is the casualty count coming out of Gaza. Before addressing it directly, it should be understood that the number, which is now reportedly over 20,000, comes from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas is a terror organization who purposely places their own civilians in harms way, so their numbers should be taken with not only a grain, but a truckload of salt. Taking Hamas at their word is comparable to trusting the Kremlin to give accurate figures for the number of Russian casualties sustained in their current war.

If the numbers are accurate, however, it is important to understand a high casualty count does not equate to genocide. During World War II, the United States and Britain carried out a joint bombing campaign against Dresden, Germany. While their overall goal was to defeat the Axis powers, 25,000 people died as a result of the campaign. To this day, the bombing of Dresden is not considered a genocidal act and rightfully so.

Another example from World War II are the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. The damage caused by these operations was so extensive, historians have never been able to produce a concrete casualty count. Some estimates place the figure around 110,000. Despite the soberingly large figure, America never went on trial for genocide against the Japanese because (similar to Israel) they never showed any intent to wipe out an entire race.

Many critics of South Africas actions at the U.N. have responded by criticizing them in return. British author and commentator Douglas Murray claimed , Its government is profoundly anti-Semitic, has been anti-Israel for years. He also said they, always do this sort of thing to try to sort of distract attention among their own population from the failings of their own government.

Similarly, Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman has shown a surprising willingness to differ from his party by openly defending Israel. At a luncheon hosted by the Orthodox Union, Fetterman criticized South Africa by saying they should sit this one out.

Israel is not committing a genocide in Gaza. For almost two decades they have worked tirelessly to defend their citizens from Hamas and other terrorist organizations. At any point, Israels superior military could have wiped out their enemies in the Gaza Strip, but they havent. The population in Gaza, on the other hand, has grown consistently at an unprecedented rate. Hamas started this war on October 7, 2023, with a massacre of innocent civilians, and it will continue until the terrorists who carried it out are no longer a threat. Lets hope that happens soon, so civilians on both sides can live safely.

* * *

JacobFalach is a writer and student in Nashville, TN. You can find him on Instagram at: @jacobfalach

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Sports

Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5 preview: Can Carolina force another game?

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Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5 preview: Can Carolina force another game?

All signs pointed to the Florida Panthers finishing off the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4, but the Canes kept the series rolling with a 3-0 win on Monday.

Will the Panthers finish the story in Game 5? Or will the Hurricanes send the festivities back to South Florida again?

Here are matchup notes heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 from ESPN Research, as well as betting intel from ESPN BET:

More on Game 4: Recap | Grades

Matchup notes

Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 5 | 8 p.m. ET | TNT

The Panthers’ odds to win the series are now -1600, adjusted from -5000 heading into Game 4. The Hurricanes’ odds have shifted to +750 (adjusted from +1500) after their win. The Panthers’ odds to win the Cup are now +105 (previously -110), while the Canes’ are now +1800. Sergei Bobrovsky is the leading Conn Smythe candidate in this series at +200, followed by Aleksander Barkov (+800).

Game 4 was the Canes’ first win in the round since Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals against the Buffalo Sabres, snapping a 15-game conference finals losing streak. It was the longest losing streak in NHL playoff history for a team in the round preceding the Stanley Cup Final. The Hurricanes are now 4-4 all-time in Game 4s when trailing 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.

Frederik Andersen made 20 saves for his fifth career playoff shutout, his second with the Hurricanes. He joins Cam Ward (four), Kevin Weekes (two) and Petr Mrazek (two) as goaltenders with multiple playoff shutouts in Whalers/Hurricanes Stanley Cup playoffs history.

Carolina’s Logan Stankoven scored playoff goal No. 5 in the second period. He joins Erik Cole (six in 2002) and Warren Foegele (five in 2019) as the only rookies in Whalers/Hurricanes history to score at least five goals in a single Stanley Cup playoffs year.

Sebastian Aho scored an empty-net goal in the third period, his 32nd career playoff tally. That extends his own franchise record for career goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Panthers were shut out for the second time this postseason; both games were at home — the other instance was Game 6 of the second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Florida went 0-4 on the power play in Game 4, and the team is now 0-8 with the man advantage in the last two games of this series after going 4-for-5 in Games 1 and 2.

Though he hasn’t scored a goal in the past two games, Sam Bennett has a team-leading nine this postseason. That is two shy of the franchise record in a single playoff year, currently held by Matthew Tkachuk (2023) and Carter Verhaeghe (2024).


Scoring leaders

GP: 16 | G: 6 | A: 9

GP: 14 | G: 5 | A: 9

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Liverpool fan says his baby was flung 15ft in his pram and his partner run over during trophy parade

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Liverpool fan says his baby was flung 15ft in his pram and his partner run over during trophy parade

A father has told Sky News how his partner was driven over, and his baby son was flung 15ft in his pram, after they were hit by a vehicle during the Liverpool parade collision.

Daniel Everson, 36, had been with Sheree Aldridge and their five-month-old baby, Teddy, at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.

“The best day of my life turned into worst”, said Daniel, a lifelong fan of ‘The Reds’.

Daniel described the moment the car came towards him and his family.

“I tried to hold on to the front of the car and try and stop it, push it, do whatever I could [to stop it] from hitting my partner and my baby.

'The best day of my life turned into worst', Daniel Everson told Sky News.
Image:
Daniel Everson was in the crowd for the Liverpool trophy parade when the incident took place

“Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.

“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.

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“As soon as that happened, I just started screaming for my partner, and I found her and I asked where Teddy was, and she didn’t know… and I found him and he was okay, thank God.

“He was in the road, in his pram, on his back, and I grabbed him. I chucked the pushchair to the side and I ran up to some paramedics with him.”

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The suspect is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.

Daniel, from Telford, said he felt like he was in “hell” as he rushed back to find Sheree.

“I had to carry her up the road with four police officers holding her while she was screaming and crying. At that point, I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I could see the injuries to her leg,” he explained.

Sheree, 36, is recovering at Aintree University Hospital after suffering muscle tissue damage. Daniel has been allowed to return home with Teddy after he was assessed at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

“I feel a lot of emotions right now. Upset, angry, traumatised. A lot of unanswered questions that need to be answered.

To me, it just wasn’t handled properly – the situation with the car getting that far into the crowd, in my opinion, he should not have got anywhere near us.”

Merseyside Police have now been given more time to question a 53-year-old arrested after a car struck a crowd at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.

The suspect, who police have described as a white British man from the local area, is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving, and drug driving.

Police have said the extra time they have been given to question the suspect runs into Thursday.

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Politics

Pakistan announces Bitcoin strategic reserve

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Pakistan announces Bitcoin strategic reserve

Pakistan announces Bitcoin strategic reserve

Bilal Bin Saqib, head of Pakistan’s crypto council, announced on May 28 that the country is moving to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saqib said the government of Pakistan followed the United States’ lead in establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve and is embracing pro-crypto regulatory policies. The government official told the audience:

“Today is a very historic day. Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them.”

The announcement represents a significant departure from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on cryptocurrencies, holding that crypto would never be legal in the country.

Pakistan’s shift reflects the broader trend of nation-states adopting pro-crypto policies following the regulatory shift in Washington, DC under the President Donald Trump administration.

Government, Bitcoin Reserve, Bitcoin2025
Bilal Bin Saqib at the Bitcoin 2025 conference announcing a Bitcoin strategic reserve. Source: Cointelegraph

Related: Pakistan appoints special assistant to PM on blockchain and crypto

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