đź“° Our Fight Weekly | Challenging the genocide libel | 2026-08-12
Our Fight has joined over 35 organisations worldwide who have put their names to a new report calling out the genocide lie—a libel used to justify the isolation of Israel and attacks on its supporters. But now it's time to put pressure on public figures to state publicly: there is no genocide.
Why we must challenge the genocide libel
For nearly three years we've campaigned against the accusation that there is a genocide in Gaza. Our view is simple: we do not deny that there is suffering in Gaza, but we do deny that Israel is intentionally killing civilians—the core of any charge of a genocide.
And we believe that accusing Israel of the worst crime that humans have yet devised does two things: first, claiming that a war is a genocide undermines the lessons of the Holocaust—lessons that humanity cannot afford to lose. And second, declaring Israel guilty of this crime justifies boycotts and isolation, and ultimately violence against anyone who would stand with Israel.
So we wrote of this in our articles, organised conferences and events around the Holocaust, and took the message to the street with our banners—stopping Palestine Solidarity Campaign marches, opposing Amnesty International boycotts, challenging Green Party divestments.
Our Fight
Articles on the genocide libel.
And this week we added our name to the over 35 organisations across ten countries that backed the launch of The Gaza GenoLIE report—a report tracing piece by piece how the genocide claim against Israel was manufactured immediately after 7 October.
But while challenging the libel with the facts is an important step, it is no longer enough. It's time that we demanded our politicians state clearly where they stand. Our public life is being distorted and devalued as violence and intimidation are given free rein, justified by the false claim of genocide; yet our public figures are too cowardly to challenge it.
If you agree with the urgency of confronting the libel and putting pressure on politicians to do the same, then please make a donation or better still—become a paying member and get involved with our campaign; we have articles that need writing, rallies that need coordinating and conferences that need planning. More details below.
Coming up
Tuesday, 18 August: Why Language Matters: A Framework for Tackling Antizionism, with Adam Louis-Klein. Adam argues that anti-Zionism is its own category of bigotry. B'nai B'rith UK, via Zoom, 8pm. (Pre-registration required.)
Saturday, 3 October: Save the date for our Rally Against Anti-Zionism, in Brighton.
Sunday, 17 January, 2027: Save the date for our National Conference on the Anti-Semitism Crisis.
You might have missed
Nearly two years ago, we were outside the Royal Courts of Justice challenging the genocide libel.
Today @amnesty and @hrw seek to use the High Courts as another arm of the boycott and sanctions campaign. They are desperate to present Israel as a pariah, to isolate it, and to leave it defenceless.
— OurFightUk (@OurFightUk) November 18, 2024
Members of Our Fight and @StopTheHate_UK turned up to challenge their lies. pic.twitter.com/MAfXCataAs
At the Battle of Ideas conference in 2024, Our Fight organised a session on Israel, Genocide and the Law, with speakers Natasha Hausdorff, Jonathan Sacerdoti and Lesley Klaff, chaired by Mark Birbeck.
Worth a read
Although the legal protection of David Miller's anti-Zionist views will be worrying to many, Gill Levy suggests that it is not necessarily a loss for the rest of us—a law that protects repugnant beliefs is a law worth defending.
Gill Levy
In the context of our recent debates about whether Islam and Islamism are distinct, Daniel Ben-Ami traces where Islamism actually began, as a political movement, not a religious one.
Daniel Ben-Ami
For members
The next Monday Catch-up, on 17 August, will be looking at the planning for our upcoming events. The meeting is open to paying members—details of how to join are below.
We need your help
We desperately need your financial support. If you can make a donation, become a paying member or buy some merch for that special mensch in your life, it would be an enormous help.
Our store is on Shopify and the button for donations and membership is below.
If you are able to support our work, please make a donation, or become a paying member.
And as always, thanks for being part of this,
Mark Birbeck
Founder and Director
Our Fight
