BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- The International Association of Genocide Scholars, frequently cited by major news outlets like the AP and Washington Post, allows anyone to join for a $30 fee, with no verification process required.
- Recent articles have reported that this group claims Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, raising concerns about the credibility of its membership and the integrity of its resolutions.
- Notable individuals, including journalists and commentators, have expressed skepticism about the organization's legitimacy, with some mocking its practices and questioning the value of its scholarship.
A “leading genocide scholars” group, cited by the Associated Press, Washington Post, and other news outlets, is open to anyone who has $30.
The “International Association of Genocide Scholars is a favored source for the AP – it cited the group twice already this week.
“Top genocide scholars accuse Israel of genocide,” a Sept. 1 article stated. PBS republished this story as well.
“Leading genocide scholars organization says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” a Sept. 2 article from the AP reported. The Washington Post parroted the language in its own Sept. 1 article
But the group, hailed by the AP as “The largest professional organization of scholars studying genocide,” is in fact open to anyone who wants to pay the membership fee.
There’s no verification process – one journalist “signed up” and “became a genocide expert in Yugoslavia, gender, and the Holocaust.”
Conservative commentator David Harsanyi likewise shared how he joined the organization in September.
Once inside the system, he found a widely-reported genocide “resolution” occurred without any debate and only included about 25 percent of the members (who include, according to reporting, “Mo Cookie,” “Emperor Palpatine,” and “Adolf Hitler). The organization also did not disclose who authored the resolution, according to one former advisory board member.
Noting his status as a “member in good standing,” Harsanyi continued on to mock the resolution.
“If a handful of unnamed members of our organization are willing to distort reality, not to mention decency, to spread the propaganda of a terrorist state, what is our scholarship really worth,” he wrote. “The genocide accusation is a hoax. I think they know it. I think that’s why there was no debate, why the authors of the resolution aren’t named, and why barely anyone voted.
The Free Press editorial team also noted this is why people do not trust “experts.”
“Activists are dressed up as scholars and subject matter experts, and their words are taken as gospel in news reports,” the editorial stated.
