Genocide scholar criticizes association for rushing Israel resolution without debate

In an interview with i24NEWS, genocide scholar Dr. Sara Brown criticized the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) for pushing through a resolution accusing Israel of genocide without holding the standard debate among members.

Brown, who has been a member of the association for more than a decade and served on its advisory board for two four-year terms, also serves as the American Jewish Committee’s San Diego Regional Director. 

She said the association normally discusses controversial resolutions in virtual town halls, allowing members to weigh in before votes.

“For this resolution, the leadership declined to hold any discussion,” Brown said. “The content of the resolution and the way it was forced through speak to an embarrassing absence of professionalism.”

She criticized the resolution for relying on sources such as Amnesty International, which she said reinterpreted the definition of genocide to apply to Israel, and UN special investigator Francesca Albanese, whose past statements have included antisemitic and extremist rhetoric, according to Brown.

Only 126 members out of roughly 500 voted on the resolution, Brown said. “They announced the resolution as if it was unanimous vote on behalf of the entirety of the association. It was not, and they refused to hold a discussion,” she added.

Brown noted that while the association’s membership expansion to include activists and non-scholars can be valuable, it can also make controversial resolutions easier to push through.  

“The public is going to see, ‘Genocide experts agree.’ No, we don’t, and we were deliberately silenced,” Brown said.