The legacy of Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish lawyer who coined the term “genocide” after surviving the Holocaust, is at the center of a contentious battle as his family member, Joseph Lemkin, seeks to strip his name from a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security. The institute, founded in 2016/2017 and renamed in 2021 to honor Raphael Lemkin, has been vocal in accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza since shortly after the October 7th Hamas attacks, a stance that deeply troubles Joseph Lemkin, whose own family was decimated in the Holocaust. Joseph, the sole survivor of his immediate family after the Holocaust, views the institute’s appropriation of his cousin’s name to accuse Israel as a perversion of Raphael’s life’s work and a painful echo of the antisemitism his family endured. He has partnered with the European Jewish Association to file formal complaints with Pennsylvania’s Governor and Department of State, arguing the institute misrepresents Raphael Lemkin’s intentions and deceives the public. The Lemkin Institute, however, maintains that Joseph Lemkin does not represent the entire family, citing support from other Lemkin relatives and asserting that Raphael Lemkin, having died without heirs, could not grant permission, thus justifying their use of his name to further his mission against genocide. The institute, which has also expanded its definition of genocide to include a wide array of groups globally, including Palestinians, and has called for Western leaders to be put on trial for supporting Israel, dismisses the legal challenge as an attempt to silence their opposition to what they term Israel’s genocide. This dispute highlights a profound generational and ideological rift over the application of the term ‘genocide’ and the interpretation of Raphael Lemkin’s enduring legacy.
Adapted from: Latest World News on Fox News
