The International League of Peoples’ Struggle, International People’s Front and Peoples’ Coalition for Food Sovereignty held the International People’s Tribunal “Right to Resist: The Palestinian People vs. the Zionist Occupation and the US Government” from November 22 to 23 in Barcelona, Catalonia. Through witness testimonies, this quasi-judicial process provided insight into the far-reaching destruction of Palestinian society. Israel, the United States of America and other complicit entities were found guilty of genocide, ecocide and forced starvation. The United Kingdom, France and Germany were found complicit in aiding, abetting and enabling the crimes. The jury coined the term “metacide” to describe the complete destruction of Palestinian society - a deliberate strategy to not just erase Palestine from the map, but to erase everything. From farms and water sources to hospitals and clinics, nothing was spared from the claws of Israeli aggression.
A total of 16 expert and witness testimonies were presented in the two-day process. These testimonies were varied, ranging from topics such as the direct targeting of civilians through mass bombings, and depriving the Palestinian people of food and other basic necessities. An activist from the Global Sumud Flotilla testified, “There was a lot of help and aid waiting to enter Gaza. The problem is not the lack of aid, but the blockade.”
Another witness testified that the fisherfolk were deliberately being targeted in order to exacerbate food scarcity: “Approximately 700 fishing boats have been destroyed by Zionist aircraft… This is a deliberate strategy to create famine, the occupation closes crossings, blocks the entry of food supplies and prevents fishermen from feeding our people.” An agricultural infrastruture engineer spoke of agricultural land that Israel has blocked access for everyone.
Bombings by Zionist forces does not only kill people, they obliterate resources to sustain life. One witness testified, “100,000 tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza equivalent to nine bombs the size of nuclear weapons. 80% of the water infrastructure was compromised. Of the 162 municipal wells, only 17% remain functional. About 70% of the agricultural sector was wiped out. Around 140 temporary landfills - holding more than one million tons of waste - are situated near residential areas or on the edges of refugee camps. Massive amounts of explosives generate chemicals hazardous to health. Gaza is being transformed into an environment that is no longer suitable for human life due to widespread, systematic and intentional ecological destruction.”
Children approaching aid deliveries from the Gaza Humanitarian Fund were deliberately killed. Over 172 journalists were killed to prevent the truth from reaching the public. Several witnesses had to be anonymous to protect them from repercussions by the IDF. This shows the importance of international peoples’ organizations and their ability to give a voice to those who are denied it.
The tribunal also exposed the ineptitude and failure of bourgeois institutions to address the grave crimes committed against the Palestinian people. As one witness aptly pointed out, “We are going through a crisis in international law never seen before.” Both the ICC and the ICJ have failed to uphold their duty to prosecute the violators of international humanitarian law. The United Nations has failed to unite on a common plan to end the genocide.
“We are here for a People’s Tribunal because of the failure of the Haque Tribunal to prevent the genocide and ecocide” as one witness pointed out.
The jury not only found the Israeli, US-American and other western imperialist perpetrators guilty of genocide, ecocide and forced starvation, they also came to the resounding conclusion that the only solution would be the liberation of Palestine. A Palestinian witness declared, “We need support out of solidarity, not charity. This is a political matter, we must extend our political support first and then sympathize. The same oil, mining and timber companies destroying Gaza are destroying the rest of the world.”