Latest news with #GazaTribunal
The National
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Gaza Tribunal: Complicity in Israel's genocide 'asserted, not hidden'
Richard Falk, an American Jewish professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University who previously served as the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, is leading the public scrutiny of Israel's actions in Gaza in the form of a tribunal. Though it has no legal force, the tribunal – which has its first public hearing taking place in Sarajevo this week – aims to document alleged war crimes, advocate for justice for Palestinians, and address shortcomings of the international legal system, its organisers said. READ MORE: 'Unacceptable': British Palestinians call out David Lammy over UK-Israel trade visit The Gaza Tribunal was officially launched in London last November and is set to conclude with a final hearing in Istanbul in October 2025, at which the tribunal's conclusions and decisions will be published. Over four days, the tribunal's Sarajevo hearing is aiming to 'close the gap in the enforcement of law' with examinations of the Nakba and colonialism, apartheid, forced population displacements, the political economy of genocide, the criminalisation of protest, and a look at the media's role in Israel's occupation of Palestinian land. The Gaza Tribunal is looking to follow on from Nobel prize winner Bertrand Russell's 1966 people's tribunal, which ultimately concluded that the US had perpetrated genocidal acts in Vietnam. Richard Falk speaking remotely to the Gaza Tribunal (Image: Gaza Tribunal) Falk, who is leading the tribunal, said: 'Liberal democracies demonized China over Uyghurs but remain complicit in Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza. One standard for adversaries, another for allies – this undermines law and morality. 'Governments enable Gaza genocide through weapons, financial support, diplomatic cover, disseminating Israeli propaganda. This complicity is asserted rather than hidden." Falk's words echo those of Justice Robert Jackson, the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, who said: 'If certain acts and violations of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them.' Jackson's words were cited by Russell in the establishment of the 1966 tribunal on the US and Vietnam. At the Gaza Tribunal, the Byline Times reported on evidence given by Dr Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American doctor who worked in Nasser in Gaza City in 2024. READ MORE: Tommy Sheppard: End the pretence that Israel is a normal country 'It appeared that the city, block by block, was being levelled from east to west and we would watch from the hospital as giant balls of smoke would fill the sky and then 10 or 15 minutes later, we would get an influx of the mass casualty event,' Dr Ahmad said. He added: 'This was happening multiple times a day … There is no hospital in the United States, no hospital in Chicago, that would have been able to function had they seen the same volume that was being seen at Nasser hospital.' Craig Mokhiber, the former director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who stepped down in October 2023 accusing the UN of failing to act on a 'textbook genocide', also spoke at the tribunal. "What can we say of an international system that speaks of human rights but allows a live-stream genocide to rage day after day, year after year?' he said. 'A system that refuses to even name the crime out loud: genocide. 'The word genocide is only permitted in reference to history – not for genocides happening today, certainly not for Palestine. UN offices have non-critically endorsed Israeli propaganda under Western pressure.' READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn secures date to table Gaza inquiry bill in Commons The Worldwide Lawyers Association (Wolas), a Turkish-based rights group, said: "This tribunal is not merely a response to enforcement vacuum left by states and international institutions. It is a peoples' legal, ethical and political initiative exposing the deeper structures behind the failure: an international system where power dynamics consistently override law, and where geopolitics shields atrocity. "Over four days in Sarajevo, lawyers, scholars, survivors, and organisers come together to present evidence, offer expert testimony, and challenge both the violence in Gaza and the global order that sustains it." In the UK, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has spear-headed calls for a public inquiry to examine the Government's role in Gaza. You can find more details of the Gaza Tribunal on Richard Falk's website.
Saba Yemen
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Gaza Tribunal starts in Sarajevo to probe possible war crimes
Sarajevo - Saba: On Monday, the sessions of the "Gaza Tribunal" initiative will begin in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, to investigate the war crimes that the Zionist enemy continues to commit in the Gaza Strip. The initiative is a people's tribunal established for humanitarian and moral purposes, led by Richard Falk, the former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine. The sessions of the People's Tribunal are scheduled to take place between May 26 and 29. It will address key issues, most notably: colonial genocide, patterns of genocide, apartheid, forced population transfer, the protection of civilians, the shortcomings of the UN system, and the criminalization of protests. On the final day of the tribunal sessions, the "Sarajevo Declaration" will be presented to the public, prepared with the participation of all attendees and participants. The tribunal, a civil body, was established for humanitarian and moral purposes and is held with the support of the OIC Youth Forum (ICYF), which includes 66 youth organizations, including 50 from member states and 16 representing Muslim minorities around the world. The court will hold its first public session in Sarajevo, and the final session, during which the final decision will be issued, will be held in Istanbul next October. The final session is expected to witness the court's team, which includes experts in the fields of law, culture, politics, and civil society, hearing testimonies from victims and witnesses. The session will also witness the announcement of a draft final decision and special decisions including mandates and recommendations, based on the latest developments related to the "Gaza Tribunal" process. All activities of the initiative, held in Sarajevo, will be broadcast live on websites and online platforms. The "Gaza Tribunal" stands out as an initiative launched by international and regional civil society organizations, with the participation of human rights activists and international law experts. It aims to highlight the gross human rights violations suffered by the Palestinian people and draw the attention of the international community to them. The Zionist enemy is scheduled to be tried in absentia by members of the court on charges of war crimes and genocide in Gaza. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
