Western states, media enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Istanbul tribunal says

An independent tribunal in Istanbul has determined that Western governments, media outlets, and academic institutions have helped enable Israel's genocide in Gaza through political protection, financial backing, and biased reporting. 

The four-day tribunal, established as an independent international initiative to examine Israel’s military actions in Gaza, concluded on Saturday.  

The final session took place at Istanbul University under the chairmanship of Richard Falk, a former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories. 

Testimonies presented during the proceedings detailed systemic complicity across multiple sectors that have prolonged the conflict. 

Contributors from the media, academic, and government fields shared evidence demonstrating how Western institutions have played a role in sustaining the war. 

Among those who testified were US journalist and filmmaker Katie Halper and former Biden administration official Lily Greenberg Call. 

Greenberg Call, who resigned in May 2024 from her role as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the US Department of the Interior in protest at the Biden administration’s Gaza policies, gave remote testimony to the tribunal.  

She described how Western governments - particularly the US - were aware of the devastating impact of Israel’s actions.  

"These reports circulated internally … and yet none of these warnings changed policy," she said, referring to briefings that detailed civilian deaths and infrastructure collapse. 

"What made me complicit," Greenberg Call continued, "was the US’ support and enabling of Israel’s system of apartheid and inequality and occupation that created the conditions for October 7."

Meanwhile, American journalist Katie Halper highlighted cases of institutional bias in Western media, citing her own experience.  

She recounted being censored by producers at The Hill after describing Israel as an apartheid state.

Halper described complicity in Western coverage of Israel's war on Gaza as being “pervasive”, with outlets using passive language and dehumanising terminology.

She also slammed media outlets' focus on unverified claims and downplaying of Palestinian suffering.

"The US media and Western media and US political leaders are still talking about the rape that didn't happen, yet inside [Israel] it's happening — sexual violence," she said, likely to referring to the sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces.

Maura Finkelstein, a former tenured US professor who was dismissed last year for her pro-Palestine views, shared her experiences in higher education.

She accused universities of "actively supporting Israel’s genocide" through financial ties and institutional partnerships. 

"These ongoing repressive measures ... have created a chilling effect across higher education," Finkelstein added, citing incidents of surveillance, suspensions, and police action against student encampments in the US.  

"I am one of those faculty members. The number of faculty and staff who are targets continues to grow."

Shahd Hammouri, a law lecturer at Kent Law School, testified about the structural and economic factors fuelling the war, including corporate and arms industry involvement, which she said reflected "the effect of the current globalised market economy".

"Israel is a militarised state economy," Hammouri said. "During the genocide of Gaza, Israel produced over 102,000 tons of explosives … Israel tested new weapons in Gaza."

The four-day public tribunal marked the culmination of a year-long effort by international jurists, academics, and civil society figures to document what participants described as crimes against Palestinians under Israeli occupation. 

The tribunal’s "jury of conscience" included Kenizé Mourad, Christine Chinkin, Chandra Muzaffar, Ghada Karmi, Sami Al-Arian and Biljana Vankovska. 

The panel is expected to deliver its final opinion on Sunday, outlining findings on Israel's genocide, apartheid and violations of international law in Gaza.  

Organisers said the tribunal aims to create a detailed "people’s record" of the ongoing genocidal war.