Gaza Tribunal Moves Forward in Sarajevo

(MENAFN) The Gaza Tribunal, an independent "people’s tribunal" examining alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, continued its inaugural public hearing on Wednesday in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The event, hosted at the International University of Sarajevo (IUS), marked its third day under the thematic focus History, Ethics and Philosophy. It brought together scholars, legal professionals, human rights defenders, and members of civil society.

The tribunal's opening session began on May 26 and is scheduled to run through May 29.
Deliberations have tackled a broad spectrum of topics, including the historical context of ethnic cleansing, genocide as a tool of state policy, philosophical underpinnings of the alleged genocide in Gaza, forced Palestinian displacement, resistance efforts, the concept of “Holocaust privilege,” the framing of Israeli actions as genocide, narrative-driven ethnic cleansing, Zionist ideology, and the erasure of genocide from mainstream discourse.

Notable participants featured during the session include Australian criminologist Penny Green, academic Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, and historian Ussama Makdisi.

The Gaza Tribunal was originally convened in London in November 2024, organized by a coalition of academics, thought leaders, civil society representatives, and human rights advocates. The tribunal was created in response to what they called “the total failure of the organized international community to implement international law” in Gaza.

Following this session in Sarajevo, the tribunal is set to hold its concluding hearing in Istanbul this October.

At that final gathering, a Jury of Conscience will unveil a preliminary report outlining the tribunal’s conclusions, based on witness testimonies and narratives from Palestinians impacted by the conflict.

The session will culminate with the public release of the Sarajevo Declaration.

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