Over 400 Dutch lawyers call on bar association to speak out against Israel

ISTANBUL

More than 400 lawyers called on the Dutch Bar Association (NOvA) to speak out against Israel’s “ongoing violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza.

In a joint letter Thursday, titled “Lawyers for Peace,” 432 Dutch lawyers urged NOvA to assess the situation in Gaza and to bring the issue before the association of European national bars (CCBE).

Lawyers expressed their “deep shock” at the ongoing violence against civilians in Gaza while stressing that Israel “disregards” international law and the principles of humanitarian law.

“The entire legal infrastructure – including the building that housed all the courts and the archives of judicial and historical documents, and the office of the Palestinian Bar Association – has been wiped out. Practicing law has thus become virtually impossible,” the lawyers said, pointing to the current situation of their colleagues in Gaza.