Lemkin Family and Prominent Rabbis Urge Pennsylvania Review of Institute Over Israel 'Genocide' Alert

A coalition of Raphael Lemkin’s relatives and leading U.S. rabbis has asked Pennsylvania officials, including Governor Josh Shapiro, to review the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. They contend the nonprofit has misused Lemkin’s name by labeling Israel as committing genocide and say that usage distorts his legacy and risks stoking antisemitic rhetoric.

Joseph Lemkin, a New Jersey attorney and nephew of Raphael Lemkin, said the family acted reluctantly but felt compelled after seeing the institute’s materials reach younger audiences. He said the tipping point was an Oct. 13, 2023 “active genocide alert” that described Israel as committing genocide just days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

“A combination of factors led us to take formal steps against the Lemkin Institute,” Joseph Lemkin said. “When my then-16-year-old son asked about the institute’s social media messaging, I became deeply concerned about its impact on the next generation.”

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish jurist who coined the term “genocide” in 1944 after studying the annihilation of European Jewry, helped inspire the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention. The family argues that his name was never intended to be used as a brand to accuse the Jewish state of genocide; they say doing so inverts the moral purpose of his work.

The family’s complaint asks Pennsylvania officials to examine the nonprofit’s public use of the Lemkin name and materials — especially the Oct. 13 alert issued amid intense public emotion and violence following Oct. 7. Joseph Lemkin told supporters that issuing such an alert so soon after the attack, before Israel had taken defensive measures, signaled an anti-Israel agenda rather than a measured human-rights intervention.

In recent weeks, a number of prominent rabbis have submitted letters echoing those concerns. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called on the state to determine whether the group’s use of the Lemkin name misleads the public about Raphael Lemkin’s historical mission. Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag, chief justice of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, described labeling Israel as genocidal as a distortion of historical truth.

Other signatories include Rabbis Yitzchak Lasry, Tal Peretz and additional rabbis identified as Dana, Ovadia and Tobali. Joseph Lemkin emphasized the moral weight of the rabbis’ involvement, noting that misusing a revered figure’s name can amount to false witness in Jewish ethical terms.

The appeals from the Lemkin family and religious leaders come amid reports of record-high antisemitic incidents in the United States. Family members and rabbis argued that rhetoric equating Israel with genocide can inflame anti-Jewish sentiment and contribute to real-world incidents.

Joseph Lemkin said he welcomes legitimate criticism of Israeli policy but opposes rhetoric that seeks to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist. “Using the ‘genocide’ trope against Israel doesn’t advance peace or justice,” he wrote. “It turns the memory of Jewish victimhood into an accusation against the Jewish people and corrodes the credibility of human-rights advocacy when other crises receive less attention.”

Asked how Raphael Lemkin might react, Joseph Lemkin said: “He would be pained to see his name used to invert his mission. He stood for protection of all people and especially understood the Jewish people’s right to live in safety and self-determination.”

Requests for comment to the Lemkin Institute were not answered. The family’s complaint and the rabbis’ letters now await review by Pennsylvania authorities.