“Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny.”
– Jeremy Corbyn
By Matt Willgress
Jeremy Corbyn has released the speakers list and other essential details for “The Gaza Tribunal”, to be held this Thursday and Friday, saying “Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny. Just like Iraq, it will not succeed in its attempts to suffocate the truth. We will uncover the full scale of British complicity in genocide – and we will bring about justice for the people of Palestine.”
The Gaza Tribunal seeks to uncover the full scale of British complicity in Israeli war crimes, and will hear from witnesses, journalists and survivors, as well as a range of international law experts, lawyers and whistleblowers.
Among these are Mark Smith (a British Foreign Office official who resigned in protest over continued arms sales to Israel), UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Dr Raz Segal (Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies), and the lawyer for the family of Mr. Henderson, the World Central Kitchen aid worker killed in Gaza.
The Tribunal will be chaired by Jeremy Corbyn, Neve Gordon (Professor of human rights law at Queen Mary University of London and the Vice President of the British Society for Middle East Studies) and Shahd Hammouri (Lecturer at the University of Kent in International Law and Legal Theory from the Levant region).
Explaining the importance of the Tribunal, Shahd Hammouri said, “The British government has maintained a policy of denying and distorting the reality of the genocide in Gaza. This tribunal seeks to hold a mirror to the British government, forcing it to see the blood on its hands and to hasten the inevitable reckoning with its own complicity.”
The background to this Tribunal is that Jeremy Corbyn had previously presented the Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill to Parliament earlier this year, but it was blocked by the government. Astonishingly, the government’s official response states that “there is no need for an inquiry” and “such an inquiry would be unnecessary as there is no confusion about UK military operations in Gaza.”
Yet, as Natalie Roberts of the MSF commented, the reality is that“It is abundantly clear that we are witnessing a genocide in Gaza. And that the UK Government is complicit. The entire population of the Gaza Strip has been subjected to relentless bombardment by the Israeli armed forces. Over 63,000 people have been slaughtered, including twelve of our colleagues. Gaza’s healthcare system has been destroyed, and medical workers are systematically targeted by the Israeli military. Due to the siege imposed by Israel, more than two million people are facing famine, as part of a calculated strategy aimed at eradicating Palestinian society. Over 500 starving people have been massacred and thousands more wounded while queuing for the military-controlled aid distribution hubs. These atrocities clearly contravene international humanitarian law. They indicate genocide.”
This Tribunal – and sharing the testimonies from it widely – will be a vital part of our continuing campaigning for the UK Government to introduce sanctions on Israel, and end all arms sales, As Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has said, “Far from preventing the genocide in Gaza, the UK has continued to supply Israel in violations of its obligations to international law. The British government is hiding from accountability in Parliament, but there is also accountability before the people. We are talking here about liability for complicity with international crimes, and I welcome this Tribunal as a crucial step in the vital pursuit for justice.”
- The Tribunal will be livestreamed on at www.thegazatribunal.uk. You can find the timetable here.
- You can see the full transcript of Jeremy’s speech during the First Reading of the Bill here and the full list of supporters of the Bill here.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
This Tribunal is very welcome and well overdue. This government tried to protect itself behind the fact that it was not directly involved in the war in Gaza as in the last war in Iraq. But one fact has been ignored and that’s the sale and supply of military equipment and arms with deadly intent. This makes us directly involved. Especially as the reason invoked is that Israel has the right of self-defence!!! The only thing is, it’s Israel attacking and Palestine defending itself. Israel exterminating Palestinians and destroying their homeland. Free, free Palestine.
If Palestine is to be free, Starmer will have to accept Jewish refugees, people who have been behavjng like Nazis. Even Starmer can’t want that. Can he?
Jeremy has my full like him I’m a Socialist who believes in Social Justice and Solidarity as WANKEIR should marry Liz Truss then that’s too LOONATIC MORONS TOGETHER!!