Shimon Peres summoned to Belgian kangaroo court and to free Marwan Barghouti

"We would like to formally invite you to take part in this historic event. We would also like to seize this opportunity of this letter to ask you, in your position as Nobel Prize winner, President of the State of Israel and someone that has always advocated a just and durable peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, to free Marwan Barghouti. This would enable him to be in Brussels with us on these two days. Such a gesture from you would certainly be as important as the one F.W de Klerk did with Nelson Mandela in 1991 [this is particularly rich: the kangaroo count has found Israel guilty of the crime of apartheid... and Pierre Galand, who wrote the letter, says that Israel is a "rogue State" - The Russell Tribunal on Palestine dishonours victims of apartheid]. It would also mark a new beginning for Israeli-Palestinian relationships that I am sure will be a revolution in itself." (Pierre Galand)

From Pierre GALAND, General Coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (Feb. 20, 2013)

Shimon Peres
President State of Israel

Dear Mr President,

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine is a people’s initiative whose proceedings were launched in 2009 in response to a call from Ken Coates, Chairman of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Nurit Peled, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2001, and Leila Shahid [she is the great grand niece of Hitler's friend Hadj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, and Yassir Arafat's cousin], Ambassador of Palestine to the European Union (EU). The RToP follows on the footsteps of the people’s tribunals established by the philosopher Bertrand Russell on Vietnam (1966-1967) and the Lelio Basso International Foundation for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples of Latin America (1974-1976).

[Interestingly, Bertrand Russell had a poor opinion of Islam: "Bolshevism combines the characteristics of the French Revolution with those of the rise of Islam; and the result is something radically new, which can only be understood by a patient and passionate effort of imagination. [...] Marx has taught that Communism is fatally predestined to come about; this fits in with the Oriental traits in the Russian character, and produces a state of mind not unlike that of the early successors of Mahomet. Opposition is crushed without mercy, and without shrinking from the methods of the Tsarist police, many of whom are still employed at their old work. Since all evils are due to private property, the evils of the Bolshevik régime while it has to fight private property will automatically cease as soon as it has succeeded."]

Noting the failure of third parties to push Israel to respect fundamental international legal norms and to comply with their international obligations, the RToP seeks to contribute to a just resolution of the conflict by mobilizing public opinion, enhancing the role of civil society and providing it with the legal tools it requires to take action.

On March 17, the RToP will convene for its closing session in Brussels. At this event, the members of the Jury will review the findings of the previous four international sessions of the RToP, which highlighted the complicity of third parties (the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and multinational corporations) in breaches of international law by Israel in Occupied Palestine.

The Jury of the RToP will be composed of figures that are known for their activism in support of peace and justice: Dennis BANKS, Angela DAVIS, John DUGARD, Lord Anthony GIFFORD, Miguel Angel ESTRELLA, Stéphane HESSEL (died yesterday), Ronald KASRILS, Mairead Corrigan MAGUIRE, Michael MANSFIELD, Cynthia MC KINNEY, José Antonio Martin PALLIN and Roger WATERS.

We would like to formally invite you to take part in this historic event. We would also like to seize this opportunity of this letter to ask you, in your position as Nobel Prize winner, President of the State of Israel and someone that has always advocated a just and durable peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, to free Marwan Barghouti. This would enable him to be in Brussels with us on these two days.  Such a gesture from you would certainly be as important as the one F.W de Klerk did with Nelson Mandela in 1991. It would also mark a new beginning for Israeli-Palestinian relationships that I am sure will be a revolution in itself.

We thank you in advance for taking this letter into consideration and for letting us know if you can participate in the event.

With best regards,