The International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades and Economic Coercive Measures condemns the Israeli assassination of Yasser Adnan Ibrahim al-Derawi, 31 year old attorney from Gaza, Palestine. He served as an expert witness in our Gaza hearing on May 13, 2023.

We recently learned of Yasser’s murder after local journalists searched for him to discuss his research on the Israeli blockade and other war crimes in Gaza, Palestine. They informed us that Yasser was targeted during an Israeli bombing campaign of his home in December 2023, following a series of letters he sent to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in collaboration with the Center for the Protection of Human Rights documenting Israeli war crimes in Palestine and Gaza specifically. He testified before the International People’s Tribunal (@sanctionstribunal) during the fifth day of an active Israeli bombardment campaign against Gaza. Two witnesses left the hearing abruptly because the homes near them were being bombed as they testified.

In the morning of Yasser’s testimony, he attended a fact-gathering meeting at Al-Shifa Hospital, which has since been completely destroyed by the Israelis and is described by the World Health Organization as “an empty shell with human graves.” He explained that this meeting was to document Israeli atrocities committed during the May 2023 bombardment. In his powerful testimony before the Tribunal, he stated repeatedly that the “Israelis don’t distinguish between women, children, elderly. They kill all civilians without distinguishing between targets. They declare war on civilians, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

He noted the use of internationally banned weapons and cited multiple violations of international law, including Article 33 of the Geneva Convention. He stated that the Israeli objective is to “destroy the Palestinian will to resist and live.” Yasser was keenly aware of the US role in perpetrating war crimes against Palestinians and the people of Gaza. He noted that the Israelis cannot make any decisions unless they get an agreement from Washington DC, and that just two days prior, the US blocked the condemnation of Israel before the Security Council. “We call it the United States of imperialism, that’s what supports the Israelis.” Yasser concluded his testimony with the following statement: “We join this Tribunal with the hope that we can prosecute the apartheid regime of Israel. We are ready to present any evidence that you want us to provide to document and show the crimes of the Zionist occupation in Gaza…. We’ve asked multiple times for the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into these crimes, but the Court is slow to respond.”

The People’s Tribunal on US imperialism understands that international institutions such as the ICC are rooted in legacies of colonialism and shaped by the diktats of US imperialism, which materially and politically supports the settler colonial state of Israel as its imperial outpost. This has undermined the international community’s ability to take the action needed–action Yasser so powerfully called for in his testimony–to prevent the genocide currently underway in Gaza. Had the world heeded the calls of Yasser and other Palestinians, we could have prevented the deaths of over 186,000 Palestinians and the extensive destruction and waste of life, land and infrastructure produced by this imperialist-zionist assault on the Palestinian people.

Despite its limitations, Yasser was committed to working within the framework of international law. He held a Masters degree in Public Law and his dissertation was entitled “The Powers of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.” At the time of his assassination, he was attending a doctoral program in International Criminal Law, and had participated in numerous conferences advocating for Palestinian liberation. He was actively training to participate in prosecuting Israel in international legal fora and was a member of the War Crimes Protection Committee of the Center for the Protection of Human Rights. Yasser is survived by his wife and children.

We send our profound condolences to his family during this unimaginable time of grief. In addition to this personal loss, we understand Yasser’s martyrdom as a loss for the Palestinian national liberation movement, as well as for the international community of anti-imperialist lawyers. The best way we can honor Yasser is to continue his fight for justice and accountability for Zionist crimes and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

https://solidarityiran.org/2024/08/20/israel-assassinates-sanctions-tribunal-expert-witness-in-gaza/

https://sanctionstribunal.org/

Maria Isabel Barreno

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