Factually! with Adam Conover Genocide Scholar: I Know It When I See It, with Omer Bartov
13 snips
Sep 10, 2025 
Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, brings his expertise to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He examines the complexities of labeling current events as genocide, drawing parallels to historical instances of ethnic cleansing. The conversation dives into the political narratives shaping Palestinian identity and the cultural erasure they face. Omer also highlights the moral responsibilities of Western nations and the nuanced relationship between Jewish identity and Israeli state actions, emphasizing the need for coexistence.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Studying One Town's Descent Into Violence
- Bartov researched a single Eastern European town to study intimate local dynamics of inter-ethnic violence.
- He found residents who had lived together for centuries turned on each other during wartime, illustrating how genocide occurs locally.
Childhood Memories Of Erased Villages
- Bartov recalls growing up in Israel among Holocaust survivors and seeing erased Palestinian villages near his childhood home.
- He later explored those abandoned places and realized Palestinian presence had been systematically removed and forgotten.
Legal Definition Of Genocide
- Genocide targets a group's destruction, not just individual killings or displacement.
- The Genocide Convention requires states to prevent, stop, and punish acts aimed at destroying a protected group.
