Israel W. Charny (born 1931) is an Israeli psychologist and

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

scholar. He is the editor of two-volume ''Encyclopedia of Genocide'', and executive director of the

Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide The institute on the Holocaust and Genocide was founded in Jerusalem, in 1979, by Israeli scholars Israel W. Charny, Shamai Davidson and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. In 1982 the institute on the Holocaust and Genocide held an interdisciplinary, ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Background

Israel Charny received his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Psychology with Distinction from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

in 1952, and his

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

. in clinical psychology from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

in 1957. He established and directed the first group psychological practice in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

area (1958–1973), where he was also the first Professor of Psychology at the newly founded Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in

. An affiliate of the Institute for the Study of Genocide, the

International Association of Genocide Scholars The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) is an international non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes, and consequences of genocide, including the Armenian genocide, the Holoca ...

was founded in 1994 by Israel Charny,

Helen Fein Helen Fein (1934 – May 14, 2022) was a historical sociologist and professor who specializes on genocide, human rights, collective violence and other issues. She is an author and editor of four books and monographs, a former associate of the Inte ...

, Robert Melson and Roger Smith. From 2005-2007, he was

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and then President of the organization. He has been devoted to the study of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

and

since the mid-1960s. His first publication on the subject which appeared in Jewish Education in 1968 was "Teaching the Violence of the Holocaust: A Challenge to Educating Potential Future Oppressors and Victims for Nonviolence." He once wrote, "...Genocide in the generic sense means the mass killing of substantial numbers of human beings, when not in the course of military action against the military forces of an avowed enemy, under conditions of the essential defencelessness of the victim..." Charny, a clinical psychologist and practicing psychotherapist, was Professor of Psychology and Family Therapy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was the

Founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

and first Director of the Program for Advanced Studies in Integrative Psychotherapy (Family, Couples, Individual and Group Therapy) of the

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...

Center and Department of Psychology. He was the founding and first president of the Israel Association of Family Therapy and later a president of the International Family Therapy Association. He is best known for his active stance against

denial Denial, in ordinary English usage, has at least three meanings: asserting that any particular statement or allegation is not true (which might be accurate or inaccurate); the refusal of a request; and asserting that a true statement is not true. ...

of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

, and has written articles and given lectures on the subjects of

and

genocide denial Genocide denial is the attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of an instance of genocide. Denial is an integral part of genocide and includes secret planning of genocide, propaganda while the genocide is going on, and destruction of ...

. He is most noted for his comparison of

Armenian genocide denial Armenian genocide denial is the claim that the Ottoman Empire and its ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I—a crime documented in a large body o ...

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

, citing that they both have similar techniques and psychological motivation.

Selected publications

*''Marital Love and Hate'' *''Existential/Dialectical Marital Therapy'' *''Encyclopedia of Genocide''* *''Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review''* *''The Widening Circle of Genocide'' *''Century of Genocide Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts'' *''Fascism and Democracy in the Human Mind''* *''The Genocide Contagion'' *"A Classification of Denials of the Holocaust and Other Genocides", ''Journal of Genocide Research'' 2003, 5(1), pp. 11–34. ''*Each of these three books was awarded "Outstanding Academic Book of the Year" by ''Choice'' of the American Library Association.

References

External links

Biography of Israel CharnyList of books by Israel CharnyGenocide Prevention Now, founded and directed by Israel Charny
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charny, Israel Jewish scholars Israeli historians Living people 1931 births Temple University alumni University of Rochester alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty