The Palestinian Bar Association Hosts a Press Conference to Launch an Urgent Appeal to Global Syndicates and International Institutions Regarding the Starvation Policy in the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Bar Association hosted today, at its headquarters in Ramallah, an extensive press conference attended by a number of presidents and secretaries-general of Palestinian professional syndicates and popular unions, to launch an urgent appeal addressed to professional syndicates around the world and international institutions, in light of the ongoing policy of systematic starvation being practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities against our people in the Gaza Strip.
Presidents and secretaries-general of the Bar Association, the Journalists' Syndicate, the Engineers' Syndicate, the Doctors' Syndicate, the Teachers' Union, the Agricultural Engineers' Syndicate, the Women's Union, the Veterinary Medicine Syndicate, and a number of union and human rights figures participated in the conference.
Speakers affirmed in their statements that the occupation is using hunger as a weapon of war and genocide against civilians, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and the principles of human rights.
During the conference, it was announced that a joint appeal would be circulated to mobilize a global professional and popular stance to stop this ongoing crime, and to call on international human rights and humanitarian institutions to assume their legal and moral responsibilities.
In his opening remarks, the President of the Palestinian Bar Association, Attorney Fadi Abbas, affirmed that this unified appeal comes in the context of the importance of a professional stance at the international level, in line with the professional, human rights, and ethical responsibilities of syndicates around the world, in order to immediately stop this deadly policy, lift the injustice off the Palestinian people, and guarantee their right to live in freedom and dignity.
The appeal reads:
Appeal to Professional Syndicates and International Institutions Around the World: Stop the Crime of Starvation in the Gaza Strip
To professional syndicates and their members across the world, and to international institutions,
We address you today from the heart of the Palestinian wound, where more than two million people in the Gaza Strip are subjected to a suffocating siege and a systematic crime in which starvation is used as a weapon of war, in flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The policy of starvation is classified as a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute, and a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the same statute. It is also considered one of the "grave breaches" under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention—even if not explicitly stated—based on the phrase: "willfully causing great suffering" included in the article's text.
Death by starvation in Gaza has become a daily reality, recorded in official death certificates and documented by international humanitarian and human rights organizations. Children die clutching their hungry dreams, famine devours the sick and the weak, amidst a deliberate blockade on the entry of food, medicine, and water, and a systematic targeting of infrastructure and essential services, including hospitals, power plants, and water facilities.
We are witnessing a fully constituted and well-documented crime, committed by the Israeli occupation authorities, using starvation as a weapon of slow genocide—making it subject to the jurisdiction of international courts and obligating the international community, especially professional syndicates worldwide, to shoulder their ethical and legal responsibilities to stop this tragedy.
From our firm belief that professional syndicates are not just about professions, but also a mission to defend rights, justice, and human dignity, we address to you this urgent appeal and call on you to:
Issue clear and explicit positions condemning the policy of collective starvation in the Gaza Strip, recognizing it as a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Take immediate action through international frameworks to activate accountability mechanisms and support legal efforts to prosecute those responsible for these crimes before the courts, including national courts applying the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Coordinate with Palestinian syndicates to form a unified legal front to defend the rights of the Palestinian people and expose these violations to global public opinion.
Support human rights and relief efforts through organizing legal solidarity campaigns and providing intellectual and logistical support to legal aid centers and human rights institutions operating in the Gaza Strip.
Dear colleagues,
The silence of professionals in the face of this crime cannot be justified; rather, it may be understood as implicit acceptance—something that contradicts our shared professional oath and the mission of defending justice.
We believe that if your voices rise united, they are capable of making a real impact on the path of international justice and contributing to the halting of this humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before the eyes and ears of the world.
Let us stand together in defense of the oppressed...
Let us prosecute those causing starvation as war criminals...
And let us be partners in building a world where human dignity is preserved, and human rights are respected.
