Nick Timothy, a Conservative MP, asked Lammy to clarify that "there is not a genocide occurring in the Middle East", adding that words like "genocide" in connection with Gaza were "not appropriate" and "repeated by protesters and lawbreakers".

Lammy’s answer began well: "These are, quite properly, legal terms that must be determined by international courts."

Lammy might have noted that experts, such as the Israeli scholar Omer Bartov and the Lemkin Institute, founded by Raphael Lemkin, who in 1942 invented the term genocide, have already described Israel’s action in Gaza as exactly that. Neither can remotely be described as protesters or lawbreakers.

Instead, Lammy got chummy with Timothy. This should not come as a surprise since Keir Starmer's Labour has a habit of siding with Tories rather than its own MPs over Gaza.

"I do agree with the honourable gentleman," said Lammy, before redefining the term genocide in a way that no expert would recognise, let alone accept. The word, the foreign secretary told the House of Commons, was "largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises like Rwanda, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the way that they are used now undermines the seriousness of that term".

    • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
      ·
      24 days ago

      Hey Voight, you made it to Vietnam yet? Or are you still here because I was right about them not wanting to be friends with you either?

      • REgon [they/them]
        ·
        24 days ago

        Don't bother, the guy is a legit weirdo. He got banned from a comm and then got pissy at me in dms, only to follow me into the mega

        • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
          ·
          24 days ago

          He's done similar to me twice before, I just wanted to confirm it's him before reporting this account as an alt too. The first name I knew him under was @Voight, so he's obviously not super inventive with usernames.

      • dj_voight_kampff [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        24 days ago

        Yes and they didn't even bring up my unusually dismissed case, which I was worried about. Nobody at immigration tried to make friends with me. They also didn't seem to know what Chapo Trap House is for some reason. 😒 Gonna talk to those guys a lot more though so there is hope for you that I fail the Voight-Kampff Test and prove you Right Online.

        So I take it you accept the L? Fine with me, take it as constructive criticism. Or it can just be another narcissistic injury that twists your personality further until you die.