National Conference of Black Lawyers Statement on Gaza

By NCBL

November 3, 2023

National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) expresses its appreciation to the Center for
Constitutional Rights for drafting and circulating its October 18, 2023 Emergency Legal Briefing
Paper: Israel’s Unfolding Crime of Genocide of the Palestinian People & U.S. Failure to Prevent
and Complicity in Genocide.¹ NCBL also commends Amnesty International for its October 20,
2023 report, Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza.²
These documents provide the factual basis that supports claims that Israel has made Palestine an
“apartheid state” and is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the
Palestinian people with the complicity of the United States.

NCBL also continues to oppose attacks on the freedom of expression of those who dare to speak
in support of the Palestinian people and against the genocide being committed by Israel, including
Ryna Workman, NYU Law Student and former President of NYU Law Student Bar Association,
who faces possible expulsion and United States Representative Rashida Tlaib (D. MI), a
Palestinian American, who faced possible censure. The United States government, both President
Biden and Congress, is complicit in this genocide, forsaking their oaths of office to uphold the
Constitution of the United States and, therefore, once again supporting white supremacy in action.

NCBL commends and joins with those who are taking courageous stands, raising their voices for
a ceasefire and identifying the war in Israel and Palestine as a continuing act of genocide. For
example, Craig Mokhiber, the director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights left his post November 1, 2023, citing the United States “complicity in ‘genocide’
of Palestinian civilians.”

NCBL, therefore, demands:

• The Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus immediately initiate an
  investigation into the claims that members of Congress are seeking to punish those who
  speak in support of Palestinians and state, based on significant documentation, that Israel
  is committing genocide.
• The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiate an
  investigation of the charges that Israel is committing war crimes, crimes against
  humanity, and genocide, with the complicity of the United States, against Palestinian
  people in Gaza.

Laura Webb, President,
Board of Directors
National Conference of Black Lawyers

1 https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2023/10/Israels-Unfolding-Crime_ww.pdf.
2 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/

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