Mr. August Immel

Old Dominion University

Bio

August Immel holds a PhD in English, specializing in rhetoric and technology studies. His areas of research include rhetoric of extremism, counter-antisemitism narratives, AI agents as rhetors, data visualization, and computational rhetoric and AI discourse. He has also earned Master’s degrees in Business Administration, International Studies, Military Studies, Classical History, and Operational Studies. He is a former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and combat veteran of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

The United Nation’s Employment of an Illusory Interpretant to Invoke Extremist Reaction against Israel

Abstract

Drawing on Peircean semiotics, this paper examines how Francesca Albanese’s 2024 report, Anatomy of a Genocide, frames allegations about Israel’s conduct in Gaza. It argues that the report amplifies the Genocide Convention’s legal definition through rhetoric encouraging audiences to treat an allegation as an authoritative determination. Calling this effect an “illusory interpretant,” the paper explores how institutional language can mobilize moral outrage and political action, underscoring the need to distinguish legal findings from public interpretation.