Taxpayers Against Genocide, the National Lawyers Guild International Committee and Palestinian-American petitioners who have had scores of relatives killed in Gaza will hold a news conference on Thursday at noon in New York City to discuss the “international legal action they are taking against the U.S. government for participation in the genocide in Gaza.
“This initial phase of the legal action involves filing a historic legal complaint against the U.S. government with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR), the official human rights body in the Western Hemisphere established by the Organization of American States (OAS). This is the only legal complaint in the world that directly takes on the U.S. government — including the Biden and Trump Administrations, and Congress — for its role in the genocide.” [Note: the U.S. government originially signed the Genocide Convention on the condition that it not be subject to International Court of Justice jurisdiction regarding it.]
Among the speakers:
Huwaida Arraf, lead counsel and co-founder of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. [For information on the latest and largest flotilla, see: @globalsumudf.]
Monadel Herzallah, lead petitioner:
“I joined this complaint because the United States government needs to be held accountable for its aiding and abetting a genocide. Nothing is going to bring back the 44 family members we lost, but we can give them the justice they deserve by holding their murderers accountable for their crimes. And as a U.S. citizen and taxpayer, I am disgusted by the use of my money to kill children instead of improving the lives of my fellow Americans here at home.”
Hadil El Wahidy, lead petitioner:
“Over 100 members of my family have been killed in Gaza. We are not just statistics — we are professionals, scholars, children, and community leaders. Yet we are constantly dehumanized. Despite being a taxpayer and U.S. citizen, I feel betrayed by the continuing funding of a genocide, that has devastated my family.”
Maria Kari, co-counsel:
“Our petition provides damning evidence of the myriad ways in which the United States government has funneled billions in our tax dollars to turn Gaza into a graveyard for thousands of civilians. The truth is the U.S. is not a bystander to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. It is a key enabler. We turn to the IACHR to ask it to do what U.S. courts, Congress and the administration cannot or will not to do: to put a halt to the American government’s complicity in genocide.”
Anthony Aguilar, a retired U.S. Green Beret, and former contractor in Gaza:
“Direct U.S. government participation and funding in the Gaza Humanitarian Fund as a militarized outsourced aid model, that weaponizes hunger to control and forcibly displace civilians in Gaza, makes the U.S. a party to the conflict in Gaza under international law, and U.S. personnel assisting forces who commit war crimes should face prosecution.”
Jacqueline Luqman, Chair, Coordinating Committee, Black Alliance for Peace:
“In the face of insufficient action to end the bloodshed in Gaza, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) is joining Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG) in a legal effort to halt U.S. support for Israel’s violence and hold officials accountable. We condemn the use of critical taxpayer resources to fund brutality abroad while needs go unmet at home. As residents here face financial hardship, we demand that public funds no longer be used for war but to improve the standard of living for all. The message is simple: fund people’s needs, not genocide.”
The news conference will take place at Foley Square, 60 Center St.
For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Seth Donnelly, Co-Founder, TAG, [email protected]