Voices From The Front Lines Voices From The Frontlines

Another case charges genocide against Israel, this time within U.S Federal courts. This week, Eric Mann talks to lawyer Astha Sharma Pokharel of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) about their lawsuit, “Defense for Children International-Palestine et al v. Biden,” which charges that the U.S Government failed to “...exercise influence over Israel” to prevent a genocide. The plaintiffs include several Palestinian organizations and individuals, who collectively have lost over 200 family members as a result of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza. The case brings two claims against the U.S government. “The first is that these defendants, so Biden, Blinken, and Austin, are liable for failing in their obligation to prevent genocide. And they are. So that's the first claim,” Pokharel says. “And the second claim is that they're complicit in the genocide, that they're actually supporting the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza.” Liability for the case arises under international law, which U.S courts have recogn