Breaking the Code: Understanding the linguistics of geno-urbicide in Gaza

According to a Charles Darwin University academic, six linguistic strategies can offer an understanding of the complex geopolitical and ideological dynamics in Gaza.

Charles Darwin University forensic linguistics expert Dr Awni Etaywe has referred to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza as an act of ‘geno-urbicide’, which involves both systematic genocidal acts and intentional destruction of cities, resulting in significant loss of life and the devastation of urban landscapes.

A lecturer and researcher focusing on terrorism, incitement to hatred and violence, and digital deviance, Dr Etaywe is a former UN Observer/‘expert-on-mission’, with training on the law of armed conflict and the protection of civilians and children.

“Geno-urbicide can be viewed as being a strategic option adopted primarily for political reasons, aiming to intimidate, humiliate, retaliate, eliminate or force targeted homogeneous groups of population to leave their homeland, or to deprive the population of any satisfactory geopolitical and demographic settlement,” stated Dr Etaywe.

According to Dr Etaywe, genocide hinges on two elements: (i) the deliberate mass killing or destruction of specific groups based on nationality, ethnicity, race or religion, and (ii) the expression of genocidal intent.

In the case of Gaza, he states that “the end state of the destruction appears to be a national, expansionist project – as stated by Netanyahu: ‘In the final stage, we will be able to build and expand […] I would say that there is a primary national, even historical, mission here’.” Etaywe identifies six linguistic strategies that can offer understanding of the complex geopolitical and ideological dynamics in Gaza:

1. The explicit directive language of perpetrators or those inciting genocide, as in: ‘wipe out’, ‘erase’, ‘level the place’, ‘kill all Palestinians’, and ‘Turn the strip into a slaughterhouse’.

2. Dehumanising the victims, as in Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s order of a ‘complete siege’ on ‘non-humans’, because ‘We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly’: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed.”

3. Assignment of responsibility on the civilians, and blame shifting to justify a collective punishment and deliberate attack on the civilians in Gaza, as in Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s declaration: ‘It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not being involved, it’s absolutely not true.’

4. Demonising children to justify a deliberate attack on children; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu describes the war as ‘a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness’.

5. Religious legitimisation of a combined colonial project that aims for a complete dispossession of the Palestinian land: Netanyahu declares it a combined mission to realise a religious prophecy: ‘With shared forces, […] we will realize the prophecy of Isaiah 60:18’.

6. Moral justification of destroying buildings protected by international law, such as hospitals, mosques and churches: Netanyahu states that: ‘Beneath the hospitals, schools, mosques, and homes in Gaza lies a horrific underworld of Hamas terrorism. In order to dismantle Hamas, we must dismantle their underground tunnel.’