I want to thank State Representative Christopher M. Rabb (D) for being the only elected official to come to the Philadelphia People’s Tribunal on War Crimes & Genocide in Gaza. We appreciate his steadfast commitment to justice. A people's tribunal creates accountability when governments, businesses, and organizations shirk their obligation to preserve human rights and human lives. In this tribunal, Fridays At Fetterman’s, the American Friends Service Committee and the Friends of Sabeel North America, along with 28 other endorsing organizations, worked to uncover a U.S. taxpayer-funded plot to aid and abet Israel's war crimes against Gaza.

The tribunal has no legal standing. The point is to publicize the urgent need for a ceasefire, galvanize the opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and inspire an end to the genocide. Rep. Rabb’s presence is a key part of that.

As one of nine Philadelphia-area jurors for the People’s Tribunal, I listened to testimony put on by a team of attorneys who tried the case against U.S. government actors including U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa). We heard about the part U.S. politicians like Fetterman played in the ethnic cleansing and starvation of Gaza. We also heard from many Palestinians about the harms caused and crimes committed against them, including a very brave woman named Nada in Gaza who has been through so much pain, including having family members killed and her house flattened. She was talking to us in a tent while bombs went off in the distance. It was sad and moving testimony.

The next step is to review the evidence presented on Saturday. Then the jury will decide if there is cause to say that the U.S. government is an accomplice to the war crimes and genocide in Gaza and decide who is accountable. 

Jayson Massey,  Nicetown