BNC endorses findings of London session of Russell

Tribunal on Palestine on corporate complicity

Posted by BNC Europe on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 13:09

Occupied Palestine, 30 November 2010 –

"May this tribunal prevent the crime of silence‟, pleaded intellectual Bertrand Russell at the
first meeting of the citizens' War Crimes Tribunal that investigated US war crimes during its
war on Vietnam. 1 At a time when little was known in the wider public about US conduct in
Vietnam, the tribunal exposed and brought to the fore of public discourse the brutal,
deliberate bombardment of Vietnamese civilians – a citizens' tribunal acting where the
international community had failed. It is in that same spirit that London Session of the Russell
Tribunal on Palestine confronted the narrative constructed by undemocratic and
unaccountable transnational corporations and the Hasbara of the government of Israel to
investigate and shine new light on corporate complicity with Israeli violations of international
law and Palestinian rights. The Palestinian BDS National Committee warmly salutes all those
involved with the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, looks forward to both the publication of the
detailed findings of the tribunal, due in the coming weeks, and the two further sessions due to
be held in the next two years, and fully endorses the findings of this important tribunal.

Just as with the original Russell Tribunal, the participants – which included internationally
renowned legal and human rights experts, diplomats and campaigners for justice – ensured the
tribunal spoke with a strong, clear and moral voice.

The tribunal drew together cutting edge research, analysis and expert testimony on many of
the most significant corporate supporters of Israeli Apartheid on a scale which had never been
attempted before. While nearly all of the companies examined are already well known as
companies effectively and thoroughly targeted by the movement for boycotts, divestment and
sanctions (BDS), the act of examining them together in a thorough fashion and within the
framework of international law has led to the production of an authoritative public statement
that identifies the extent to which Israeli and international corporations facilitate Israeli
violations of international law. 2 Israel‟s illegal Wall that has de facto annexed Palestinian
territory and destroyed communities was constructed with materials from Irish company
CRH; illegal Jewish only colonial settlements that preclude justice for Palestinians are
financed by Belgian-French bank Dexia, among others, and encouraged and made viable by
Israeli agricultural exporters Carmel Agrexco; security and arms companies from all over the
world provide the weapons and means used to inflict deadly violence on Palestinians with

1
B. Russell, 'Speech to the First Meeting of Members of the War Crimes Tribunal,
London, 13 November 1966', in P. Limqueco and P. Weiss (eds.),
2
http://bdsmovement.net/files/Concluding-Statement-RToP-London-22-November-2010.pdf
impunity. "Corporations play a very decisive role in enabling Israel to commit war crimes and
crimes against humanity‟, reads the public statement of the tribunal.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine investigated means of holding corporate war criminals to
account, and its strong and authoritative statement firmly endorsed and called for an
escalation of “a very wide range of actions in support of the Palestinian call for boycott,
divestment and sanctions”. In light of repression of BDS activists in France, Canada and
elsewhere, the tribunal also called for the protection of the rights of all those who are involved
in the BDS movement. In addition, the tribunal also examined the technicalities of and found
possible civil claims against the international corporations aiding and abetting Israeli war
crimes.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine continues to provide the technical knowledge and
authoritative encouragement for people of conscience everywhere to utilise BDS to hold
Israel and its supporters accountable and once again prevent the crime of silence.

Quelle:

http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/786