People's Tribunal
To bring an end to Israel’s attempted genocide in Gaza, and to provide a contribution to and continuation of the initiative started by South Africa, we are launching a People’s Tribunal through which Israel’s attacks will be judged by our conscience.
People's Tribunal:
Call for contributions
On December 29, 2023, the Republic of South Africa filed an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stating that the State of Israel was committing the crime of genocide, and demanding immediate measures be taken to prevent this crime. In this trial, we heard the facts about the crimes committed by Israel and the horrors experienced in Gaza. To bring an end to Israel’s attempted genocide in Gaza, and to provide a contribution to and continuation of the initiative started by South Africa, we are launching a People’s Tribunal through which Israel’s attacks will be judged by our conscience. We aim to reveal the criminal network of Netanyahu and all those who have played a role in the ongoing massacre in Gaza by the Israeli State, and to show the full extent of the destruction in Gaza. We, too, will document the facts presented to the world by our South African brothers and sisters by gathering new evidence of the devastating occupation.
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The infant deaths in Gaza, the killing of women and the elderly, the ecological destruction and the stifling of all living things, the razed buildings, ravaged historical fabric and architecture, the monstrous attacks on art and ancient cultural richness, the negligence of law and politics, torture, the killing of journalists and international observers, the destruction of hospitals, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers dying in the rubble of their workplaces, the shooting of ambulances, the incessant bombardments that do not even allow the youth to raise their heads from their shelters, the blocking of access to water and the sea, the attempts to eradicate poetry, song and literature, the widescale erasure of the regional collective memory and any documentation or information, such as land registries and population records, relating to the ancient existence of the Palestinian people... The list is long. Although a full documentation of all of this is an impossible task, it is essential that we try. Because we are witnessing an attempt to destroy the history and social relations of Palestine in their entirety. In this People's Tribunal, we will try to ensure that the massacre, carried out before the eyes of the world, is revealed in all its dimensions.
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We will form our People's Tribunal together, arm in arm with artists, young people, immigrants, workers, Palestinians, architects, journalists, peace activists, climate activists, writers, engineers, lawyers, academics, nurses, doctors, healthcare workers, housewives, TV actors, historians and teachers.
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Following the path opened by South Africa, the files we will present in our symbolic tribunal will contain the documents that we, together, have compiled, and we will ensure that this work will be a real milestone in the process of putting Israel on trial for war crimes and the crime of genocide.
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One of the goals of the People's Tribunal is to call on Turkey, just like South Africa, to play an active role in the legal processes that will expose and judge Israel in the international arena.
WORKING GROUPS / area of focus
22
100 ACADEMICS / Epistemicide / The situation and condition of academics from Palestinian and academics in solidarity with Palestine
100 BDS ACTIVISTS / The extent of support to Israel provided by businesses and governments
100 CHILDREN / The organisation of a children's art exhibition on the day of the tribunal, with the support and guidance of adults,
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100 WRITERS / Events in Gaza through the eyes of authors and poets, and from the perspective of authors and poets from an ancient tradition that is faced with destruction
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100 JOURNALISTS / The killings of journalists in Gaza and on the situation of the press during the attempted genocide
100 YOUTHS / Youth solidarity against the genocide; what it means to be a young person in Gaza
100 MIGRANTS / Internal migrants in Gaza, migrants in general and particularly the experiences of Palestinian migrants in relation to the Israeli attacks
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100 ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS / The impact of the war on animals
100 LAWYERS / Legal issues related to the Israeli occupation of Palestine
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100 HUMAN RIGHTS & PEACE ACTIVISTS / The meaning of war in relation to global events and to militarism in Turkey and beyond; human rights violations
100 ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTIVISTS / Impact of the occupation on the environment, wildlife and climate justice
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100 WORKERS / Developments from the perspective of Palestinian and migrant workers
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100 WOMEN / Impact of the Israeli attacks on women
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100 ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS / Extent of the destruction in cities
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100 MUSICIANS / Musical expressons of the occupation, and the impact of war on music
100 EDUCATORS / The impact of the occupation and war on education
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100 PSYCHOLOGISTS / The negative and long-term impacts of occupation and war on individuals and societies
100 HEALTH WORKERS / The effects of the occupation health and healthcare
100 ARTISTS / Expressions of the occupation through art, the impact of the attacks on creative expression
100 FILMMAKERS / Documenting the war and genocide; the impact of the attacks on cinema and documentary film-making
100 ATHLETES / The impact of the war on sport and on physical health
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100 OTHERS / The impact of war, with contributors from various professions
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Plan of action
We plan for the working groups of 100 people to prepare reports during preliminary meetings held over the six weeks before the Tribunal. These meetings may also be organised with international participation. In the first meetings, the working groups will organise their coordination and discuss ways to quickly expand the groups, working methods, reporting periods and role distribution, and the group's work will then begin before the second meeting. The coordinators will oversee these steps and strive to ensure their rapid implementation, organise further meetings and compile the received reports and outputs. These dynamic groups will hold regular meetings with the aim of gathering concrete data.
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On the day of the Tribunal, which will take place on 23rd of March at Taxim Hill Hotel (Istanbul), one or two members of each working group will give a 10-15 minute presentation of their reports, showing the scale of the disaster in Gaza in relation to their subject area. A Tribunal Committee consisting of lawyers from various countries will collect all the files and listen to the statements.
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The decision of the Tribunal Committee will be announced at a public demonstration where we will again form a human chain to show our solidarity with Gaza, which we hope will be formed by thousands of people. Then, with the contribution of representatives from all working groups, the documents and summary reports submitted to the Tribunal will be publicly shared on the international arena as a part and continuation of the legal process launched by South Africa.