The National Lawyers Guild Says Ceasefire Today, Liberation Tomorrow!

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire in the occupied territory of Gaza. This is the least that could happen, given Israel's recent escalation of their 76-year, ongoing, genocidal campaign against Palestinians. It comes at a time when the death toll has exceeded 46,000 people, with reports that this number is undercounted. Israel has displaced more than 90% of the Palestinians living in Gaza. It will take decades to rebuild all the damage that was done, and therefore it's imperative that we also demand an immediate lifting of the lifting of the siege and ongoing economic embargo on Gaza.

This level of violence and destruction witnessed could not have been achieved without our elected officials at every level of government aiding Israel. The U.S. federal government has sent over $26 billion in weapons since October of 2023. Congress passed legislation designed to target non-profits who dare to speak out about the genocide of Palestinians. States like Texas have censored pro-Palestine speech on college campuses.

All of this did not stop the massive wave of popular support that the Palestinian people have across the world. Mass protests broke out against the ongoing genocide. Universities became encampments, as students took over public spaces demanding an end to the genocide. The International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice both have cases against Israel for violating human rights, thanks to the initiative and pressure of Palestinians and their allies from South Africa to Chile to Ireland, and many more. The world has witnessed the atrocities that Israel is committing, and they are fighting back.

We call on the US and international legal community to escalate our pursuit for legal accountability for the last 467 days of genocide and all Israeli colonial violence, ethnic cleansing, ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the crime of apartheid, in our global and local legal institutions. We support the efforts of activists and progressive legal communities who are pursuing legal justice against individual members of the genocide army through national laws of Universal Jurisdiction. Every state which has signed and ratified the Geneva Convention is duty bound to prosecute those responsible for violating the Conventions.

We must also call for our legal community to unite in the pursuit of real justice against U.S. individuals and institutions who have directly participated, aided and abetted in the genocide and famine, from the Biden administration officials, to member of Congress, to the media. They are all responsible.

The ceasefire agreement has yet to be ratified, and is set to be rolled out in stages. We must keep our eyes on Gaza and the Palestinian people. The NLG continues to reiterate its support for a free Palestine. We believe that the Palestinians have the right to self-determination, by any means necessary. We also continue to reiterate the "legitimacy of the right of the Palestinian people to resist illegal military occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing" as is clear in international law and any correct moral standard. We join others in the statement Ceasefire today, Liberation tomorrow!