BRUSSELS, Speakers at a seminar in Brussels Wednesday called for Israel to be held accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for committing Genocide and war crimes in Gaza.
They also slammed the EU position for not condemning Israeli occupation's crimes, including the genocide currently being perpetrated in Gaza.
Jan Fermon, Belgian lawyer and secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, told the gathering that "this initiative in the ICC is a very important initiative on a very complicated matter which is genocide." "At the same time we should not neglect war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel which are as serious as genocide," he said.
Fermon said that thousands of lawyers are involved around the world preparing this initiative to present it in their national courts.
He said for decades the most important work has been done by Palestinian lawyers to bring the case before the ICC by presenting the documents that show the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Palestine.
"But I am rather skeptical about the ICC, because Fatou Bensouda (former Prosecutor of the ICC) at the end of her mandate was trying to get the investigation on Israel going, but as soon as Bensouda left , Karim Khan (the present ICC prosecutor ) buried it", he noted.
Fermon said the Israeli propaganda that it has the right of self-defence under international law is a "fraud. EU is aware of the fact that this is fraud," he said adding that the EU position is an "irresponsible position." A Brussels-based NGO called European Palestinian Council for Political Relations (EUPAC) organized the seminar titled "Genocide - Gaza: Political, legal, and humanitarian consequences of the EU position " at the Brussels Press Club.
Majed Al-Zeer, head of EUPAC, said the EU evades any clear condemnation of the Israeli occupation's crimes, including the genocide currently being perpetrated in Gaza.
"There is a lack of confidence in European pronouncements since EU rhetoric is contradicted by its tacit support for Israeli actions on the ground.
The EU has lost its status as an influential and impartial mediator in any future peace process," he said.
Naji Haraj, Executive Director of Geneva International Centre for Justice and former Iraqi diplomat at the UN in Geneva, said for many years now European countries boycott the session on Palestine in the UN Human Rights Council.
"Usually they leave the room during the discussions on Palestine," he noted.
"We call for a clear EU position to pressure Israel to stop the war and allow humanitarian aid," he said.
Two Belgian citizens of Palestinian origin related their heart-breaking and shocking narration of their loss of family members and other loved ones in Gaza due to the brutal Israeli bombing.
Source: Kuwait News Agency