The Russell Tribunal on Palestine has urged the European Union to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement and has called on member States for a ban to the importation of products coming from Israeli settlements. These were among the recommendations issued by the Brussels-based ‘public inquiry’, which has carried out a four-year investigation into the complicity of States, international organisations, institutions and private corporations in Israel’s violations of human rights and international law.
In its closing session on Sunday, the Tribunal also announced its support for initiatives from international civil society aiming at making it possible for Palestine to become a full member of the International Criminal Court and to ask the ICC to investigate Israel’s well-documented war crimes and crimes against humanity (2).
Other recommendations include:
– A call for the UN to reconvene the Special committee against Apartheid.
– A call for the International Criminal Court prosecutors to accept Palestinian jurisdiction.
– The establishment of a former political prisoners’ committee to campaign for the rights of political prisoners all over the world.
For a full list of recommendations see:
http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/sessions/final-session/findings-of-the-final-session
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, one of the RToP jury members, said:
“We can’t wait for another tribunal, we can’t wait for another inquiry. A solution to the Palestinian issue is pivotal for the whole Middle-East and ultimately for the world”.
And on the eve of US president Barack Obama’s visit to Israel, Maguire added:
“Obama could be a friend to the Israelis if he went to Israel and called for an immediate end to the occupation and for Palestinians’ human rights and international law to be respected by Israel’s government. Now, will he do that? Well, let’s give him a chance!”
Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who’s also been sitting on the Tribunal’s jury, said he would write an open letter to his fellow musicians and rock stars the World over, asking them to take a stand on the Palestinian issue and to support cultural boycott initiatives towards Israel.
“What is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong: if you want to call yourself a human being, there comes a time when you have to stand up and speak out your truth”, Mr Waters Said.
“If you think that what the Russell Tribunal on Palestine is saying is wrong, you should go there: you should go to Gaza, you should go to the refugee camps, and only then you can form your own opinion. I encourage any Israeli legal expert to come before the Tribunal and challenge its conclusions. We’ve won the argument, now it’s time for civil society to take action”.
Civil rights activist and former Black Panther prisoner Angela Davis said: “We are guaranteeing that the tribunal won’t stop now. This is simply a new beginning. The Russell Tribunal is not over with the Brussels session. As we drew inspiration from Russell, we now have to follow on the footsteps of the late Stéphane Hessel, who took the Palestinian cause to his heart”.