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Israel’s military campaign in Gaza could not have continued without global complicity, according to Richard Falk, former U.N. special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Speaking at The Genocide Tribunal, a two-day event examining Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and “the UK’s role in the genocide,” Falk said he was encouraged by the tribunal’s work.
Falk, who also presides over The Gaza Tribunal—a separate initiative that will hold its final session in Istanbul from Oct. 23–26—said the U.K.-based hearings highlight international responsibility.
“(The U.K. tribunal) places for the first time a proper emphasis on the complicity of a major, liberal, democratic country,” Falk said. “I cannot overstate the importance of such an undertaking, because without that complicity, Israel could not have done what it is doing.”
He described the U.K. as a “shameful government” and accused Washington of going beyond complicity to act as “an agent of the destructive policies being carried out in Gaza.”
Falk warned of worsening conditions in Gaza, where famine was formally declared last month by the U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
“If the world waits much longer, it will have waited too long, and history will remember the failure to meet this salient crisis of our time,” he said.
He added that treating Israel as a “normal state” while it defies international court rulings amounts to diplomatic complicity.
Eyal Weizman, head of the London-based research agency Forensic Architecture, said denying genocide “paves the way for genocide.” He described Gaza’s destruction as unprecedented, saying the devastation aims at eradication “under the guise of reorganization.”
Neve Gordon, a professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, said the U.K. government ignored testimony from British-Palestinian citizens while maintaining open doors for Israeli voices.
“A genocide is carried out by denying genocide,” he said, noting Britain’s continued arms sales and intelligence support to Israel.
Shahd Hammouri, a Palestinian academic at the University of Kent, said London supported Israel’s campaign despite being “fully aware of what was happening.”
The war in Gaza reached its 700th day Friday. Israel’s attacks have killed at least 64,300 Palestinians, according to local authorities, leaving the enclave in ruins and facing famine.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
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