The media rushed to amplify a resolution accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, but the truth reveals the narrative was driven by fake “genocide scholars”. Outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post described the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) as a “leading group of academic experts.” In reality, its membership includes “students, museum professionals, activists, artists, and literature scholars,” not just genocide experts.
Membership requires nothing more than filling out a form and paying dues—$125 for a year or $1,200 for life. As longtime member Sara Brown admitted, “As long as you’ve paid your dues, you can vote.” No vetting, no scholarship required.
When IAGS declared Israel guilty of genocide, only 129 of 600 members voted—barely 22 percent. Just 110 “yes” votes, or 18 percent of total membership, carried the day. Yet media outlets reported the result as if it reflected a rigorous scholarly consensus.
Even more troubling, the group canceled its scheduled debate before the vote. Its resolution leaned heavily on casualty figures from Hamas-controlled sources and echoed Amnesty International’s claim that legal genocide standards are “overly cramped.”
Brown put it plainly: “It is not guaranteed that they are, in fact, experts by way of being, you know, practitioners engaged in the field, or scholars engaged in scholarly discourse, and research.”
The Gaza resolution exposes how activists masquerading as scholars exploit weak institutions to smear Israel. As Brown concluded, the process “fully discredits the association.”
