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BREAKING - Dutch and Palestinian NGOs sue Dutch state for failing to prevent genocide in Gaza and to ensure Israel respects international law

Joint press release - Embargo until 10 October 2024, 14:00 CET

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10 October 2024

10 October 2024, Amsterdam

 

A coalition of Palestinian and Dutch civil society organisations are suing the Dutch state for failing to prevent genocide in Gaza and other Israeli violations of international law. The coalition’s main requests to the Dutch civil court include a ban on the export and transit of weapons, weapon parts, and dual-use items to Israel as well as a ban on all Dutch trade and investment relations that help maintain Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory. The coalition, consisting of Al-Haq, Al Mezan, Een Ander Joods Geluid (EAJG), the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Groningen Jabalya, SOMO, Stichting Kifaia, Nederlands Palestina Komitee, and Stichting Palestina is represented by lawyers

from Global Justice Association in their proceeding before the court. The case is supported by Erev Rav and Plant een Olijfboom.

 

The Genocide Convention, to which the Netherlands is a party, obliges signatories to prevent the crime of genocide from taking place. However, the Netherlands, consistently positioning itself as a political ally of Israel, has failed to act to prevent genocide in Gaza, even after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found, in January 2024, that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In addition to the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions bind states to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.

 

In February 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that there is a clear risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law being committed by Israeli forces in Gaza. In the same month, UN experts warned that any transfer of weapons to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and should cease. Despite this, the Netherlands continues to be involved in the supply of weapon parts and dual-use items to Israel. In addition, even though the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, the Netherlands has sent top-level military delegations to meet with the Israeli army and invited Israel’s president to the Netherlands while many of his inciting statements were used in South Africa's application to the ICJ. The filing argues that the Netherlands must ban all export and transfer of arms (parts) and dual-use goods to Israel - and push other states to do the same.

 

The confirmed death toll in Gaza since October 2023 is nearly 42,000 while over 200,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of injuries, preventable or treatable diseases and a lack of food, water, and medical treatment.[1]

 

Structural violations of international law

The case filed today is not limited to the Dutch state’s inaction in light of Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. The legal filing also challenges the woefully inadequate policy of the Netherlands when it comes to Israel’s structural violations of international law - since long before October 2023 - in both Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem. Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, through its military occupation and settlements, is unlawful and must end according to the ICJ.

 

In July 2024, the ICJ determined that all States have the obligation to prevent and abstain from economic dealings that assist Israel’s unlawful policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The court case filed today seeks to bring an end to Dutch trade and investment relations that help maintain the illegal occupation, racial segregation, and colonisation through settlements. The Netherlands must take effective measures to that effect and push other states to do the same.

 

No indication of taking measures

There is no indication that the Dutch state plans to take measures aimed at preventing genocide in Gaza or addressing Dutch economic ties to Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The new Dutch government has positioned itself even closer to Israel, as the latter continues to bombard, starve, and forcibly displace Palestinians with no end in sight.

 

This is why the coalition of civil society organisations has decided to take the Dutch state to court. It is incumbent upon the Dutch judicial system to enforce legal obligations to which the state is committed.

 

Issam Younis from Al Mezan said,

“The Palestinian people have been suffering from Israel’s violations of international law since long before 7 October 2023. However, our oppression has reached unprecedented levels in the past year. People in Gaza have been the victim of a genocidal assault that does not appear to end anytime soon while, in the rest of Palestine, Israel is doubling down on its policies of colonisation, apartheid, and subjugation. The Netherlands is aware of this, but it continues to support Israel politically, economically, and militarily, at the cost of the rights of Palestinians.”

 

Daan de Grefte from the ELSC added, “The ICJ has confirmed that Israel’s assault on Gaza since 7 October could amount to genocide, triggering the legal obligation of all states to do whatever is in their power to prevent it. The ICJ has also held that states should take steps to prevent trade or investment where it could support the unlawful occupation of Palestine. It is now up to domestic courts to give practical meaning to these determinations and to ensure that international law is applied equally to all states.”

 

Lydia de Leeuw from SOMO said, “There can be no business as usual with Israel. Dutch investors, supermarkets, suppliers of military products, and other actors have been enabling the occupation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians for decades. The Netherlands, host of the ICC and ICJ, must adhere to its own obligations under international law and take measures for accountability. Now.”

 

Wout Albers, attorney of the coalition, concluded, “The common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions is clear that states should stop breaches of international humanitarian law. The very minimum is not to deal with the oppressing regime. The rulings in the Genocide case and the Advisory Opinion have only emphasised what we already knew: genocidal acts are being committed and the occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal. All states, including the Netherlands, have the obligation to not cooperate and be complicit in violations, but also should do everything to stop future grave breaches and prevent further genocidal acts from happening.”

ENDS



[1] “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential” in The Lancet