Russell Tribunal NYC

The 4^th session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine will convene October 6^th in New York. 

The tribunal is modeled on the International War Crimes Tribunal, organized in 1966 by the eminent British philosopher Bertrand Russell.  The IWCT met in two sessions—the first in Sweden, the second in Denmark—in 1967 to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the US military in Vietnam.  Aside from Russell, participants included the famed French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, military historian Gabriel Kolko, and a young Tariq Ali.   

The basic premise behind the original Russell Tribunal was that the same standards of international law and morality applied to Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg Tribunals should hold for all states.  If the US was violating these standards, it should be held equally accountable.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine was established to assess and pass judgment on crimes committed by Israel and its collaborators against the Palestinians.  In the words of its organizers:

The RToP is an International People’s Tribunal created in response to the international community’s inaction regarding Israel’s recognized violations of international law. The Tribunal aims to bring attention to the complicity and responsibility of various national, international and corporate actors in the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the perpetuation of Israel’s impunity under international law.

Russell Tribunals have also been held to evaluate the crimes of Pinochet’s regime in Chile and the American occupation of Iraq.

If all goes according to plan, I’ll be attending the New York sessions and reporting back here on this blog.