The controversy over Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour shows why. Macklemore was dropped by the tour promoter after declaring “Free Palestine” on stage, while Sheeran faced criticism for not publicly defending him and for taking a neutral position on the issue. Every word and omission became a test of allegiance, showing how easily emotion can eclipse analysis and blur the lines between moral judgment, political loyalty and legal classification.
Lawyers, scholars and governments have spent nearly three years arguing over whether Israel’s conduct satisfies the legal definition of genocide. Genocide has a precise legal meaning, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has not yet decided the merits of South Africa's case against Israel. But while we argue over the word, Palestinians keep dying.
A population-representative study in The Lancet Global Health estimated that approximately 75,200 Palestinians were killed violently in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and January 5, 2025—about one in every 29 people. Nearly 22,800 were children. Researchers estimated another 8,540 excess deaths from nonviolent causes.
And the study’s count ended in January 2025. Even those numbers capture only part of the devastation. By October 2025, nearly 372,000 housing units—more than three-quarters of Gaza’s housing stock—had been damaged or destroyed.
The same was true of more than 97 percent of its schools and 95 percent of its higher education facilities. Its health system has been shattered, entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble and much of its population left with no intact home—or functioning education system—to return to. So perhaps another question belongs alongside the legal one: What if it isn't genocide?
Genocide is not a synonym for mass killing. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, specified acts must be committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group as such. Israel denies that intent, maintaining that it is fighting Hamas after the atrocities of October 7, not seeking to destroy Palestinians as a people.
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