For immediate release
September 30, 2025
Barcelona — The International Peoples’ Front, International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty officially launched the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) for Palestine on September 28, themed “Right to Resist: The Palestinian People vs. the Zionist Occupation and the US Government.”
An International People’s Tribunal will convene in Barcelona on November 22-23, 2024, bringing together a panel of jurors, international lawyers, and witnesses to present evidence of war crimes, genocide, and systematic environmental destruction in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. The launch, itself a rallying cry for justice, featured speakers from the International League of Peoples Struggles, International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature. The recording can be viewed on the International Peoples’ Front Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalPeoplesFront
A Tribunal of Conscience and Historical Record
As a people’s court, the IPT operates as a parallel political-legal platform. While its verdicts are not legally enforceable, its power lies in documentation, moral authority, and mobilizing global public opinion. The process will meticulously document survivor testimonies, review photographic and documentary evidence, and issue a formal judgment to be presented to international bodies and governments.
“Our Tribunal will reclaim the power of judgment from those who have weaponized international law to protect perpetrators.,” said Palestinian activist Razan Zuayter with the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature at the Tribunal launch event. “It says: We see you. We will not be silent. And we will not wait for justice from courts that never deliver it to the oppressed.“
“The IPT shall memorialize the struggle of the Palestinian people for the historical record and serve as a moral inspiration for further political action,” explained veteran human rights lawyer Edre Olalia, highlighting the lineage of people’s tribunals from the Russell Tribunal on Vietnam to the recent International Tribunal on the Philippines. “It shall contribute to the accumulation and snowballing of resistance and protests worldwide.”
The Tribunal explicitly names the United States government as a co- accused, citing its military aid, diplomatic support, and direct complicity as indispensable to sustaining the siege on Gaza.
Charges of Genocide and Ecocide Central to Proceedings
Victor Garces, Vice Chair Internal of the ILPS, noted that the US state and military, in cahoots with Israel, create a Zionist war machine not only in Palestine but also in the Middle East.
“We have seen in this war that the population has been directly displaced in Gaza and the West Bank. Nine out of 10 are victimized, 30% of them, children. 20% of women. This is a war. It’s an inhuman, cowardly war,” he said, pointing to the staggering numbers of more than 74,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, including 21,000 children.
While other IPT’s have covered the war crimes, role of specific countries, and role of specific institutions, this Palestine Tribunal will place a significant focus on the charge of ecocide: the severe and deliberate destruction of ecosystems alongside genocide through monitoring the use of forced starvation, food blockades, and systematic destruction of food systems vital to Palestinian life and return to their land.
“This is not only genocide, it’s also ecocide,” said Zuayter, detailing the systematic uprooting of centuries-old olive trees, the poisoning of soil, and the bombing of food systems. “The systematic uprooting of millions of olive trees… is an ongoing process initiated with the inception of the occupation and persisting to this day.”
“Israel’s” direct assault on the ability of Gaza’s people to produce their own food is a method to remove their ability to live on the land of Palestine. They are manufacturing an ecological disaster to force Palestinians to leave or die so that illegal Zionist resettlement can take place.
Zuayter described how the occupation weaponizes the natural landscape, annexing land as “nature reserves” to cut Palestinians off from indigenous plants that provide food, medicine, and spiritual sustenance. She revealed that all water resources are under occupier control, with over 80% of groundwater stolen and Palestinians forced to buy back their own water.
A Rallying Point for Global Solidarity
The Tribunal has become a rallying point for international solidarity, with pledges of support pouring in from student groups, artists’ collectives, and peasant organizations across the Philippines, Latin America, and beyond.
“The Palestinian issue is a benchmark in our struggle against imperialism,” said Garces. “We need militant actions to continue to pressure governments, corporations, and our societies. We need to create all ways to fight this fascist monster.”
Organizers emphasize that the Tribunal is as much about mobilizing mass support as it is about presenting evidence, framing the Palestinian struggle as interconnected with global fights against militarization and repression.
About the International People’s Tribunal for Palestine
The IPT for Palestine is a civil society initiative organized by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), International Peoples’ Front, and the Peoples’ Coalition on Food Sovereignty, with the cooperation of endorsers including the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and Palestine Land Studies Centre, among others. It aims to establish a historical record of crimes against the Palestinian people, mobilize international solidarity, and exert moral and political pressure on complicit governments and international institutions.
Learn more about the tribunal: https://internationalsolidarity.org/tribunal/
View the recording of the launch event in English and Spanish on the International Peoples’ Front Youtube channel: youtube.com/@InternationalPeoplesFront
Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Social Media: @internationalpeoplesfront
