Raphael Lemkin was a Jewish lawyer, scholar and refugee who gave the world a vocabulary for one of the greatest evils of humanity. From the ashes of the Holocaust, in which nearly 50 members of his family were murdered, he came up with the word genocide to describe the Nazi attempt to destroy the Jewish people and other targeted groups. His life’s work was to prevent such crimes, culminating in the Genocide Convention of the United Nations of 1948. For this he was nominated 10 times for the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Nowadays, more than six decades after his death, the name of Lemkin is dragged through the mud by a non-profit organization in Pennsylvania who claims to speak in his voice, but does the opposite of what he believed. The so-called Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Safety has destroyed its name and does not strengthen its Legacy not to cover its supporters.
‘Never again’ requires vigilance because anti -Semitism spreads through elite institutions and campuses
International lawyer Raphael Lemkin helped in drawing up the Genocide Treaty, which maps prevention and punishment for the crime of genocide. (Getty Images)
Only a few days after the atrocities of 7 October 2023, when Hamas terrorists cut, raped and kidnapped innocent civilians in Israel, the Lemkin Institute called Israel’s defensive response as a genocide. Only five days later it went so far that it evokes the International Criminal Court to accuse the Prime Minister of Israel of ‘the crime of genocide’. The messages from the organization have been viewed millions of times, which increases this grotesque distortion around the world.
Let’s pause here about the perversity. The word genocide was made by a Jew, for the world to understand what happened to the Jewish people under Nazi Germany. Now an institution uses its name to demonize it to demonize the Jewish state itself. That is not advocacy. It is desecration.
Even worse, the institute has repeatedly defended or apologized. The condemned Israel for aiming on Hamas leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh, even portraying Hamas as part of a legitimate ‘Response to European imperialism’. It has painted Hezbollah – another group sworn on the destruction of Israel – as a victim of “terrorism” in the hands of Israel. And in his rhetoric, the United States is not better. The institute has accused America of complicity in “genocide” only because he is with his ally.
This is not a genocide prevention. This is anti -Semitism that occurs as human rights.
Hamas terrorists killed civilians, including women, children and the elderly, when they attacked Israel on October 7. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)
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The Lemkin family has had enough. Joseph Lemkin, a surviving family member and lawyer, has joined the European Jewish Association to demand action from the Pennsylvania authorities. Their lawyers have filed a complaint with GOV. Josh Shapiro and the Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations, with the argument that the Lemkin Institute violates both state and federal legislation.
The list of potential offenses is long: unauthorized use of name and parable, post-mortem right to publicity, identity theft, false approval, cyber quats and violations of Pennsylvania’s charity legislation. The law is clear: you can’t hijack someone else’s name – let alone someone as worshiped as that of Raphael Lemkin – to raise money, to pedal propaganda and mislead the audience.
The indignation of the family is not about silence criticism of Israel. Everyone can debate about Israeli policy. But no one has the right to misunderstand their agenda in the name of Raphael Lemkin, a man who devoted his life to protecting Jews, and not to condemn. His legacy becomes prostitutes to feed the hatred he has spent his life.
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Anti-Israeli activists keep banners who ‘globalizing the Intifada’ during a protest on May 15, 2025 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
This moment is much more than one non -profit. If the name of Lemkin can be stolen and can be played in a weapon against Israel, then any historical legacy is for the taking. Imagine the name of Martin Luther King Jr. is used to justify racial hatred. Imagine that the name of mother Teresa promotes cruelty instead of compassion. The outrage would be immediately and universal. The Jewish people – and everyone who cares about the truth – does not earn less to defend Raphael Lemkin.
The authorities of Pennsylvania must act. They must withdraw the use of the Lemkin -name by the organization and keep it responsible according to the law. The deployment is not only legal, but also morally. At a time when anti -Semitism rises at alarming levels, the last thing we need is that Lemkin’s legacy is armed against the people he wanted to protect.
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Words matter. Names are important. Legabies are important. To allow the Lemkin Institute to continue his campaign under this stolen banner, is to have the history destroyed itself.
Because of justice, because of the truth, and because of the honor of the memory of Raphael Lemkin, this Charade must end.
