From 1967 to 1986, Senator William Proxmire (D-WI) gave 3,211 speeches on the Senate floor, tirelessly urging ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crime of Genocide.
According to Sen. Proxmire:
“This is one senator who believes that ratification is not only patriotic, but also good foreign policy and a moral imperative.”
The U.S. Senate finally ratified the Genocide Convention on February 19, 1986. Subsequently, The Proxmire Act, officially the Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987, was signed by President Ronald Reagan on November 4, 1988, making genocide a federal crime.
In his remarks at the signing, Reagan stated: “We gather today to bear witness to the past and learn from its awful example, and to make sure that we’re not condemned to relive its crimes.”
Yet tragically, the United States has often failed to fulfill its obligations under the Genocide Convention. In her 2002 book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, diplomat and government official Samantha Power writes:
“The United States had never in its history intervened to stop genocide and had in fact rarely even made a point of condemning it as it occurred.”
Today, there is a near-consensus among Holocaust and genocide scholars that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
In the words of Jewish Israeli genocide expert Raz Segal: “Can I name someone whose work I respect who does not think it is genocide? No, there is no counterargument that takes into account all the evidence.”
Segal cites explicit statements of genocidal intent, mass killing of civilians, deliberately destroying life-sustaining conditions, and the systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure.
However, credible evidence of genocide is being met with U.S. denial, UN vetoes, and sanctions against investigators.
Our nation is falling short of Senator Proxmire’s vision. To fulfill our legal and moral obligations, the United States must lead in defending Palestinians against the crime of genocide.