Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, an Israeli military campaign in response has left more than 11,000 people living in Gaza dead, more than 27,000 people injured and 1.6 million people internally displaced. 

The conflict has also left civilians — mainly Palestinians — including children, without electricity for over a month, and water is in low supply. 

More than 7,000 miles away, Nevadans are feeling the effects of the Israel-Hamas war close to home, holding vigils and rallies but also taking strong positions on whether the term “genocide” should be used in reference to the conflict. People in support of Israel believe the conflict in Gaza is a retaliation for the Hamas terrorist attack. People in support of Palestine view the conflict as a campaign by Israel to wipe out Palestinians.

Nevada officials and law enforcement have been paying attention to how they can keep people safe when international events, such as the Israel-Hamas war, have the potential to bring threats to communities at a local level. 

Meanwhile, the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust — whose 11 members appointed by the governor are tasked primarily with creating education programs about the Holocaust — is condemning what it describes as misuse of the word “genocide.” It reflects a debate over the term that is happening nationwide among experts.

Elliot Malin, the chair of the council, told The Nevada Independent following their Nov. 29 meeting he believes what Hamas did to Israel is considered genocide and the misuse of the term to describe what Israel is doing to Palestinians is reductive to genocides happening around the world.

“That doesn't mean what's happening [in Gaza and Israel] isn't horrific,” Malin said. “But it just doesn't mean that everything that is horrific is genocide. You can be and you should be horrified by war. But we don't misuse the term for that and it's heartbreaking to see that because it does diminish actual genocides.”

The letter describes how genocide is referred to in state and international law, which includes killing members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as well as causing serious bodily or mental harm, “deliberately inflicting” conditions of life that would lead to “physical destruction” and “imposing measures” preventing or limiting births within the group.

Nevada advocacy groups including Radical Seeds Reno, Red Desert Collective and Palestine Solidarity Reno released a statement to The Nevada Independent on Dec. 4 in response to the letter titled “Recognizing genocide is political. Not recognizing genocide is political.”

“We take great issue with the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust’s statement released on 29 November 2023, in which they condemned the use of the term ‘genocide’ when referring to the Israeli occupation’s violence against Palestinians. What is happening in Palestine is unequivocally — by any metric or definition — a genocide. It has been since at least 1948,” the statement said.

“The most appropriate and specific term to use is genocide. And while we debate the word genocide, journalists in Gaza who we have grown to know and love by name write their eulogies. We will never be forgiven for this, nor should we be,” the letter read.

Xabier Irujo, a professor of genocide studies for decades and director of the Center for Basque Studies at UNR, told The Nevada Independent in a message on Dec. 3 that he was “surprised by the superficiality of the address” issued by the advisory council.

Irujo was born in exile in Venezuela during Francisco Franco’s rule in the Basque Country during which time the Basque language and culture were banned and a bombing of a civilian market was ordered in Gernika.

He said determining whether genocide is occurring Gaza and other parts of Israel is challenging, but it is concerning for a public agency to say a genocide is not occurring.

“Reputable human rights organizations and scholars point in that direction, and their voices should not be silenced,” Irujo said. 

United Nations experts are among those who said the situation in Gaza puts Palestinians at “grave risk of genocide” because health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say most of the 9,000 people killed have been women and children, according to Reuters.

However, experts and advocates across the country remain divided on the topic. 

As experts debate the definition of genocide, Nevadans are preparing for violence targeted at Jewish and Muslim communities within the state. At the most recent Nevada Division of Emergency Management meeting on Nov. 29, Patrick Liddy, an intelligence analyst with the Nevada Threat Analysis Center, said that the state “remains a heightened threat environment.” 

Liddy said disinformation and “violent messaging” on social media from domestic and foreign extremist organizations “result [in] offline activities” such as civil unrest. Police are taking a close look and monitoring certain events, places and groups, Liddy said, including the upcoming 2024 elections, university campuses, the LGBTQ community, schools, racial and ethnic minorities, government facilities and personnel. 

Cary Underwood, executive director of the Southern Nevada Counterterrorism Center in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said that recent Southern Nevada pro-Palestine and pro-Israeli rallies and protests have been generally peaceful but have gotten increasingly “more aggressive” as anti-government sentiments grow.  

“We see individuals within these gatherings tending to be the ones that are trying to spur the larger crowd into taking a more anti-government, anti-law enforcement approach to these gatherings,” Underwood said. “It has not reached the level where we're seeing significant disruption or violence, but there have been arrests.” 

Underwood said there’s a general “environment of fear” in the community and the number of suspicious activity reports at the counterterrorism center are up.

“Reports from our Jewish and Muslim communities, but really the entire community, is definitely reporting almost anything that they might feel is concerning, which we encourage them to report things and allow the professionals to do the vetting,” Carry said, adding that while the Las Vegas Grand Prix has passed, law enforcement will be monitoring New Year’s Eve and the 2024 Super Bowl. “The level of vigilance is not decreasing in any way, shape or form. If anything, I think we're trying to remind everybody to be more vigilant.”

Updated 12:03 p.m. on 12/7/23 to reflect Red Desert Collective is a Southern Nevada advocacy group.

Updated 4:39 p.m. on 12/7/23 to reflect the state law definition of genocide is derivative from international law’s definition.