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Enough. I have tried making this argument politely. I have tried making it historically. I have tried making it legally. So let me make it as plainly as possible: Lemkin Institute, give the Lemkin family back its name. You don’t own it. You didn’t earn it. And you should not get to wrap your political advocacy in the moral authority of Raphael Lemkin while members of his own family are pleading with you to stop. This has gone on long enough.
A graphic circulating this week compares the percentage of populations killed in recognized genocides and modern wars. Its figures and methodology should be scrutinized, and the percentage of a population killed does not, by itself, determine whether genocide occurred.
That qualification matters because words matter. And genocide may be the most consequential word Raphael Lemkin ever gave us.
THEY STOLE A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR’S NAME. WHEN HIS FAMILY OBJECTED, THEY FOUND ANOTHER LEMKIN
The Genocide Convention does not establish some magic casualty percentage at which war suddenly becomes genocide. The defining requirement is specific intent: the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
So don’t misuse the graphic either. But look at it. Ask questions. Interrogate the evidence. Demand precision. That’s what an institute carrying Raphael Lemkin’s name ought to be doing.
Instead, the Lemkin Institute has repeatedly characterized Israel’s actions as genocide and has defended its use of the Lemkin name even after Joseph Lemkin, a member of Raphael Lemkin’s family, publicly objected.
The institute has responded that it is legitimately carrying forward Raphael Lemkin’s work and that another Lemkin relative supports it. It has accused its critics of mischaracterizing its positions. Fine. Let people read both sides.
But buried in the institute’s own October 2025 response is the sentence that makes this entire controversy absurd: It said it was “not closed to a name change.” Then change the name. What exactly are you waiting for?
Raphael Lemkin was a Polish Jew who coined the word genocide after witnessing a world in which entire peoples could be marked for destruction. His family didn’t study genocide from a comfortable academic distance. They lived it. Dozens of Lemkin family members were murdered in the Holocaust.
Now Joseph Lemkin and his family have to watch an organization they didn’t create use their family name while making one of the most explosive accusations imaginable against the Jewish state. And apparently they’re supposed to sit quietly and accept it. No.
I have gotten to know Joseph through this fight. I’ve heard what this means to him. I’ve seen what it means when your family’s history becomes someone else’s institutional brand. So I’m asking for help.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA): This is happening in Pennsylvania. The Lemkin Institute says it is a registered Pennsylvania charity.
Governor, Joseph Lemkin and his representatives have already brought this controversy to your attention; the institute itself acknowledges that a complaint was submitted to you. Don’t treat this like another letter that disappears into government bureaucracy. Look at it. Determine what authority Pennsylvania has and whether its charitable laws have been complied with. If there is no legal violation, say so. If there is, act. But answer this family.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA): Help them. This is a Pennsylvania organization operating under the name of the Jewish man who coined the word genocide. You don’t need to agree with me about every aspect of the Gaza war to recognize why this deserves scrutiny.
Meet Joseph Lemkin. Hear his family’s case. Then use whatever lawful oversight, convening and advocacy powers your office has to help get them an answer.
Leo Terrell: Take a look. You chair the Justice Department’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. The DOJ says that task force exists to coordinate federal efforts against antisemitism and protect Jewish Americans’ civil rights.
I’m not asking the DOJ to punish speech. I’m asking you to look at the facts. Talk to Joseph. Examine whether any federal laws within the DOJ’s jurisdiction are implicated. And if they aren’t, say that too. The answer to speech you despise isn’t government retaliation. But neither should legitimate questions disappear because the underlying political subject is explosive.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: Have the appropriate authorities examine the tax-exempt questions. The Lemkin Institute publicly identifies itself as a 501(c)(3) organization. Independent nonprofit records likewise identify it as tax exempt.
Bessent oversees the Treasury Department, and Treasury oversees the IRS. Nobody should prejudge whether the institute has violated tax law merely because we disagree with its speech. A 501(c)(3) doesn’t lose its exemption because somebody dislikes its politics, and the government must follow established procedures before revoking tax-exempt status. But asking for lawful scrutiny is not asking for political punishment.
If Joseph Lemkin and his attorneys believe there are legitimate issues concerning the organization’s representations, charitable operations or compliance with federal tax law, give those allegations a fair hearing through the appropriate process. Investigate first. Follow the law. Let the evidence determine the result. That should not be controversial.
And to the Lemkin Institute itself, I’ll make this even easier. I am not asking you to stop criticizing Israel. I’m not asking you to stop advocating for Palestinians. I’m not even asking you to stop accusing Israel of genocide, however profoundly I may disagree with that conclusion.
The First Amendment protects your right to make arguments that I find offensive. I am asking you to make them under your own name.
Call yourselves the “Philadelphia Institute for Genocide Prevention.” Call yourselves the “Institute for Palestinian Human Rights.” Call yourselves whatever accurately describes what you believe yourselves to be. But stop insisting that you need Lemkin.
Because here’s the question I cannot get past: Why do you need this Jewish family’s name so badly that you’re willing to fight members of that family to keep it?
What institutional purpose is so important that Joseph Lemkin’s objection doesn’t matter? What would actually be lost if you changed it tomorrow? Your researchers would still have their jobs. Your website would still exist. Your statements would still be published. Your donors could still donate. Your political opinions wouldn’t change.
The only thing you would lose is the reflected moral authority of Raphael Lemkin. And maybe that’s the point. The institute itself has already said it isn’t closed to changing its name. So stop talking. Change it.
BRAD LANDER HIJACKED YOM KIPPUR TO CHEAPEN THE WORD ‘GENOCIDE’
Shapiro, Fetterman, Terrell, and Bessent: Joseph Lemkin shouldn’t have to fight this battle alone. Give him a meeting. Examine the complaints. Determine what the law permits. And make sure this family gets an actual answer.
And to the Lemkin Institute: You can keep your politics. You can keep your advocacy. You can keep every opinion you’ve ever published about Israel. Just give Joseph Lemkin his family name back.
Warren H. Cohn is founder and CEO of RocketshipPR. He has advised the European Jewish Association in connection with this matter.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
