A group of Palestinian human rights organizations have filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge in San Francisco to order President Joe Biden to pressure Israel against continuing its military actions in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
"This case is brought to enforce what is perhaps the most basic and important legal, and moral, obligation in the world – the obligation to prevent genocide, the destruction of a people," states the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. "This duty is enshrined in the 1948 Genocide Convention, to which the United States, Israel and Palestine have all acceded, and it is judicially enforceable as a peremptory norm of customary international law."
It seeks a court order "requiring that the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense adhere to their duty to prevent, and not further, the unfolding genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza."
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Defense for Children International - Palestine, which is based in Ramallah, in the West Bank; Al-Haq, an organization also based in Ramallah; and a group of Palestinians and Palestinian Americans who claim to live in Gaza or who claim to have family in Gaza, and who claim to have either been injured or have family members who have been injured or killed in Israeli military actions against Hamas in Gaza.
The courts have a responsibility to order the President to intervene on behalf of the Palestinians and seek to pressure the Israeli government to stop the military actions against Hamas, the suit said.
Israel has consistently denied it is carrying out "genocide," but is attempting to root out terrorists who have used Gaza's semi-autonomous status to launch attacks against Israeli civilians. Israel and its supporters say many of the calls for ceasefire are disingenuous attempts by antisemitic factions now to prevent Israel from defending itself, while allowing Hamas to carry out its attacks without fear of reprisals.
The lawsuit claims continued U.S. support for Israel amid the military actions in Gaza make the U.S. and the Biden administration "complicit in the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people of Gaza."
"If the legal responsibility to prevent an unfolding genocide is to mean anything – indeed, if the rule of law is to signify anything – courts must have a role and responsibility to enforce these foundational international law principles," says the suit. "The lives of so many more people are at stake."
The lawsuit does not address the separation of powers constitutional doctrine, which delegate certain powers to the courts and others to the executive branch, led by the President.
The Justice Department has not yet responded to the lawsuit. The judge has directed the federal government to respond to the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction by Dec. 8. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for Jan. 26.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Marc Van Der Hout and Johnny Sinodis, of Van Der Hout LLP, of San Francisco; and Sadaf M. Doost, Baher A. Azmy, Katherine Gallagher, Maria C. LaHood, Astha Sharma Pokharel, Samah Sisay and Pamela C. Spees, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, of New York.
Defense for Children International- Palestine v. Joseph R. Biden et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-5829