The Arab Democrat The Latest From The Arab World
Related Articles
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine in its session on Operation Protective Edge held in Brussels on Wednesday found evidence of crimes against humanity, crimes of murder, war crimes, termination and persecution and incitement to genocide.
The tribunal’s proof comes on the heels of claims made by rights groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International of breaches of international law committed by the Israeli military. The ongoing inquiry, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, is due to submit its report in March 2015.
The tribunal’s jury consists of legal scholar Professor John Dugard, former UN human rights Chief Richard Falk, Michael Mansfield QC, Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, filmmaker Ken Loach and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
On Wednesday, the jury heard eyewitness testimonies from several people, including included journalists like Max Blumethal, Mohammed Omer, Paul Mason from Channel 4 News, Col. Desmond Travers, Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, former Israeli soldier Eran Efrati, President of Advocacy and Defense for Children International Ivan Karakashian and genocide scholar Paul Behrens.
The tribunal presented its findings on Thursday at the European Parliament, saying that “the cumulative effect of the long-standing regime of collective punishment in Gaza appears to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group in Gaza”.
The tribunal also said that it had evidence of several war crimes, including the destruction of property that can’t be justified by military necessity, willful killing, disproportionate use of force, directing strikes against civilians, the use of Palestinians as human shields, attacking educational and religious buildings and the using munitions to cause indiscriminate injury.
It also noted a “vitriolic upswing in racist rhetoric and incitement” in Israeli society, with evidence of quotations by Israeli political and religious leaders advocating and inciting war crimes, racial hatred and sexual violence.
