Raji Sourani (Gaza, 1953) is one of the great references of the legal profession in the Middle East. The founder of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights has spent more than four decades defending the victims of Israeli apartheid in the occupied territories.
Sourani has been arrested six times and is miraculously alive. Last October he saw his house burn and temporarily left the Gaza Strip. Israel bombed the Tel al Hawa neighborhood, where he lived with his family, for more than two hours. The lawyer refused to escape even when the bombs reached the neighborhood, but pressure from his friends and colleagues has managed to change his mind. “I still can’t believe I’m still here,” he declares.
The Gazan is part of the team that has taken Israel to the highest court of the United Nations (UN). International pressure is key to ending the blockade that the Palestinian population has suffered for more than half a century. Raji Sourani calls the President of the United States, Joe Biden, an “complicit” while recognizing the efforts of the Government of Spain to not completely accept the official version of the occupying forces. The lawyer addresses this and other issues in a conversation with Público during his last visit to Madrid.
He has survived two bombings and has had to escape from Gaza with his family. How does a person deal with the loss of everything they had?
On October 21, the area where we lived was bombed for two and a quarter hours. We were at home. There were bombs that fell far away, about a kilometer away, but they were felt inside. Every time we heard a bomb, I thought it was inevitable. I thought Israel was going to destroy my family and me. I was with my wife and my son, who is also a lawyer. The Gazan population lives in fear of losing everything in a matter of seconds or minutes.
“We have life, but the Israelis want to make it impossible for us”
Honestly, I thought we weren’t going to survive, especially when we saw the last bomb fall. The fire was above our heads. At that moment, while our house was being bombed, I received a phone call from my daughter. She lives in Dubai. I wasn’t able to answer her because what she was going to hear could kill her. She was worried, she called her several times. It’s a very hard time to talk to someone you admire. I didn’t want to break her heart.
He says his son is also a lawyer. Is the Government of Israel persecuting them for any specific reason?
It is clear that they want to destroy the Palestinian people, we are a primary objective. Israel has tried to defame Palestinian human rights organizations and the lawyers who do universal jurisdiction. They call us terrorists in suits.
What role have the media played in the conflict?
In five months of conflict, 139 journalists have been killed in Gaza. We are only talking about journalists who work for the offices of some media outlet. This is one of the highest figures in history. The journalists told the alternative story of what was really happening in Gaza and showed the true face of Netanyahu’s crimes against the Palestinian civilian population. In Israel they are not comfortable with this.
Journalists are in great danger for their lives, but above all for those of their families. This does not prevent them from recording, reporting and telling everything they see. We are lucky to have brave and wonderful people who paid the price for the truth with their lives. Fellow journalists reporting from Gaza hospitals were bombed and killed. We are talking about a really deliberate and intentional crime. The Palestinian media continue to fulfill their mission, and effectively, but the price they are paying for it is too high.
People talk about October 7, 2023. What was life like in the Strip before this date?
This didn’t start on October 7th. We have been there for 75 years. Gaza is 365 square kilometers in which 2.4 million people live. It is the most populated area on the planet. The war has been going on for a long time, we received attacks in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019. We had another offensive in 2021 and one more in May 2023. Gaza has always been in the eye of the hurricane and has been the target of Israeli troops. It is not only the military offensive, but also the blockade. Gaza was disconnected from the outside world.
“They consider me a terrorist and I couldn’t be prouder”
We have a whole generation that doesn’t know anything else. We have 30-year-old people who have never left the occupied territories. But just as I say this I have to say that we are human. We have one of the highest percentages of college graduates on the entire planet. In Gaza there is no illiteracy. There is a lot of solidarity. The weekend arrived and we got ready to go out. We have life, but the Israelis want to make it impossible for us.
He has spent four decades defending Palestinian victims before international justice. Had the situation ever been so extreme?
I have been present in almost all the wars we have been through. I wear Gaza on my skin. If you ask me if I have ever imagined a situation like this, I will tell you that it was only in my nightmares. I never thought this could happen. I don’t believe it yet. We do not live in easy times, there were really hard wars, but never like this. We have mass killings, mass injuries, mass destruction, mass displacement, mass hunger. It’s too much. These are the elements of a genocide. Netanyahu’s intention is clear.
Netanyahu assured that he would not make “distinctions between civilians and terrorists”…
There is no distinction between Hamas and the civilian population. He is doing exactly what he has said. That has a name and it is genocide.
He has received numerous international awards and founded the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Why does Israel consider him a terrorist?
Of course. They consider me a terrorist and I couldn’t be prouder. That means that we are doing real harm, that they are worried about the situation.
Netanyahu has the support of a large part of the international community. What would you say to the president of the United States, Joe Biden, if he had you in front of you?
I would tell him that he is complicit in the Israeli genocide. Our children and our women are being murdered with their weapons, with their smart bombs, with their tanks. He is taking our lives. If you do that, you are an accomplice. I would also ask you not to pretend that you are concerned about the situation of the people in Gaza. If you are really concerned, you have to call for an immediate ceasefire and you can also impose it. It also has to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, food and medicine. That is what we need. He is diverting the focus by saying he will send a couple of planes to bring food to Gaza. Joe Biden has to stop this genocide.
And what would you say to Pedro Sánchez?
“I would tell Joe Biden that he is complicit in the Israeli genocide”
Europe has many countries with a colonial mentality and racist policies. Spain is not among them. The Government has taken a position, but it can do much more. This is a great shame for humanity. Spain can lead the European response and be on the good side of history. Spanish companies have to stop working for the settlements. The privileges that Israel enjoys must disappear. There is no need to wait for the European consensus. In every story there is someone who rings the bell and, honestly, I believe that Spain can ring the bell effectively and make a difference.
The Government has committed to recognizing the State of Palestine in this legislature…
Israelis want to complete Nakba mission [destrucción masiva]. The strategy began 75 years ago with ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza. Then they will go to the West Bank. What can we do to stop it? Recognize the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, that is, the right to have their own State. Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Slovenia and Luxembourg have to move forward with this issue. South Africa is a good example.
South Africa has denounced Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for “apartheid” and “genocide.” What do you expect from the resolution of the 17 judges of The Hague?
I fully trust your credibility and independence. The court will rule in favor of the Palestinian people, as it did in 2005. We will win the case. The resolution may come within a year, but we will win. The important thing here is to protect the civilian population.
What has it been like for you to sit at the IJT to testify against Israel?
It has been a dream come true. Not only for testifying, but because two months before doing so I suffered first-hand the consequences of the Israeli bombings.
Would you like to return to Gaza?
I consider myself a romantic revolutionary, like all activists for the defense of human rights. We have to keep hope alive. I wish it were sooner rather than later, but I’m sure we’ll be back. Israel destroyed Gaza and we will rebuild it so that it is much more beautiful and humane than before.
2024-03-17 20:34:50
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