“People can say what they want on the sidewalk and we respect that,” says Admiral John F. Kirby from the White House podium. “That’s what the first amendment is about.”
Kirby, however, takes exception with imprecise language when it’s used to describe what’s happening in a war zone or to define a war’s participants and their aims. That requires a higher standard than is commonly employed on the sidewalk — or, too often, in the media.
“This word genocide is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks,” Kirby says, addressing the complexities of the Israel-Hamas war. “What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They’ve said so, publicly, on more than one occasion… And they’ve said they’re not going to stop. What happened on the seventh of October is going to happen again and again and again.”
Kirby, the National Security Counsel Coordinator for Strategic Communications, defines genocide further, pinning genocidal conduct solely on one participant in the Israel-Hamas conflict, not both: “And what happened on October 7? Murder, slaughter of innocent people in their homes or at a music festival. That’s genocidal intentions.”
NSC’s John Kirby: "Israel isn’t trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel isn’t trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So if we’re going to start using that word, Fine. Let’s use it appropriately.” pic.twitter.com/fRjKXJN6Tv
— Shelley Greenspan (@ShelleyGspan) November 20, 2023
Acknowledging the problem of Gaza citizens caught in the middle, but still distinguishing between what he characterizes as a demonstrably genocidal Hamas and a non-genocidal Israel, Kirby says: “Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in Gaza. Yes, the numbers are too high. Yes, too many families are grieving.”
Yet despite the casualties, Kirby wants to draw a sharp distinction — along genocidal lines — between the Hamas attack and Israel’s response, marking Hamas alone as perpetrators of genocide.
“Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map,” Kirby says. “Israel isn’t trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So if we’re going to start using that word, Fine. Let’s use it appropriately.”
The Biden White House is facing criticism from the far left over its broad support of Israel’s counterattack in Gaza, even as the White House works to increase aid to innocent victims of in Gaza. The full Kirby appearance is below.
