International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
 International Centre of Justice for Palestinians(Advocacy group)       | |
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The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians {ICJP) is a UK-based advocacy group of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.[1]
The ICJP supports the legal work done in a number of jurisdictions aimed at protecting and asserting the rights of Palestinians. Its team supports and helps to coordinate legal work being conducted in the Middle East, UK, EU and USA.[2]
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Holding Western leaders to account
Tayab Ali is Solicitor Advocate, a partner at the London Law firm Bindmans LLP and the director of the ICJP.
For years, Tayab Ali fought to bring Israeli politicians before British courts on charges of war crimes. These included former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
In 2009, he successfully applied for a UK court to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni following the brutal Operation Cast Lead, which killed more than 1000 Palestinians in Gaza.
In 2011 the British government controversially issued diplomatic protection for Livni to allow her to visit London on a speaking tour.
Letter of intent
Following the Hamas attack on October 7 which led to Israel’s war in Gaza, killing more than 18,000 people including 7000 children, Tayab Ali and his team published a public letter to British politicians, informing them of their intent to prosecute any lawmakers “aiding and abetting war crimes in Gaza”.
They’re also supporting groups mounting a case at the High Court against the UK government over its arms exports to Israel.[3]
UK "complicit in war crimes"
On 16 January 2024, Tayab Ali announced that the ICJP had filed a criminal complaint against senior UK politicians, including ministers, alleging their complicity in war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, and had handed over hard drives and evidence dossiers to the Metropolitan Police's War Crimes Unit. At a press conference, Tayab Ali said:
- “This is just the first tranche of our evidence and the first list of suspects... we will add further offences and further categories of suspects including commentators who continue to support war crimes.
- “Each account not only serves as evidence but also as a solemn reminder of the human cost of this conflict. We will accept nothing less than a thorough and impartial investigation into these allegations."[4]
