Latest news with #GlobalLegalActionNetwork
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Two Israelis questioned after attending Belgium's Tomorrowland festival
Belgian police say they have questioned two Israelis after two pro-Palestinian groups alleged they had been waving flags from their army brigade at the Tomorrowland music men were briefly detained and then released after they had been interviewed, prosecutors Hind Rajab Foundation and Global Legal Action Network said they had filed a complaint after a group of young Israelis was seen flying the purple-and-white flag of the Givati Brigade, alleging the pair had committed war crimes in Givati flag was among several Israeli flags waved during a set by Israeli DJ duo Vini Vici at Tomorrowland last Friday. Prosecutors said no further details would be released about the case at this stage. The Hind Rajab Foundation called the arrest of the Israelis a "significant step forward".They are not thought to have been prevented from leaving BBC contacted the Israeli embassy in Brussels, which declined to comment other than to confirm that the two men had been detaining the pair, prosecutors said they had decided they could investigate the allegations under Belgium's universal jurisdiction law, which allows local courts to hear cases involving alleged crimes committed outside law was updated last year to enable Belgian police to gather evidence of European Jewish Association said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned" by the conduct of the Belgian authorities towards the two Israelis. "These soldiers were carrying out their lawful duties in defense of their country, duties comparable to those of any soldier serving in a democratic nation," the EJA Hind Rajab Foundation is chaired by Dyab Abou Jahjah, a controversial Belgian-Lebanese activist who has admitted joining Lebanese group Hezbollah when he was young. Hezbollah's military wing is proscribed as a terrorist group in the year's Tomorrowland festival went ahead last week even though a fire destroyed the main stage 48 hours before the event was due to of thousands flocked to the festival in Boom, near Antwerp, to hear acts including David Guetta and Lost Frequencies.
ABC News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Two Israelis detained at Belgium festival over Gaza war complaint
Two Israelis have been detained and questioned in Belgium as part of an investigation into war crimes in Gaza. Two rights groups, the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network, said the pair were detained after the groups told Belgian authorities there was credible evidence they had committed war crimes in Gaza. "The action came in response to an urgent legal complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) earlier this week," the Hind Rajab Foundation said in a statement. Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed two citizens on holiday in Belgium were briefly detained. It did not say whether they were held due to the war crimes allegations, but Belgium's public broadcaster said the prosecutor's office confirmed they were detained because of the complaint. The rights groups said Belgian authorities had opened a criminal investigation into the pair. The Hind Rajab Foundation is a legal non-governmental organisation registered in Belgium. It is named after a five-year-old Gazan girl killed by Israeli forces in January, 2024, in what UN experts said was a possible war crime. The group has been using the social media posts of travelling Israeli soldiers to track them and seek their arrests overseas using something called "universal jurisdiction", the legal principle that any state can try a person for a serious breach of international law, regardless of where the crime was committed. After the foundation began its campaign, the Israel Defense Forces released new restrictions on the media identifying its soldiers and told IDF members not to post about their actions in Gaza on social media. The Hind Rajab Foundation and other legal groups have sought the arrest of Israeli soldiers around the world — causing some holidaying Israelis to flee a number of countries — but the group said this was the first time authorities actually detained anyone. "This development is a significant step forward," it said in a statement. "It signals that Belgium has recognized its jurisdiction under international law and is treating the allegations with the seriousness they deserve. "At a time when far too many governments remain silent, this action sends a clear message: credible evidence of international crimes must be met with legal response — not political indifference." The Israeli government has sought to discredit the Hind Rajab Foundation, saying the group is "anti-Israel" and accusing its founder, Lebanese-born Belgian activist Dyab Abou Jahjah, of sympathising with the Shia militant group Hezbollah, a listed terrorist organisation in many countries, including Australia. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called the group a "gang of Holocaust deniers, supporters of abducting Israeli civilians, and admirers of [former Hezbollah leader] the late [Hassan] Nasrallah". Pro-Israel politicians in Belgium sought to have the group de-registered but in May the country's justice minister said a state security evaluation had found no concrete evidence of links to Hezbollah or of any threat to the Belgian state. Dyab Abou Jahjah has previously responded to the Israeli allegations by saying he was never a member of Hezbollah and does not agree with the group's ideology.
Qatar Tribune
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Belgian police question Israelis over alleged Gaza war crimes
Belgian authorities have interrogated two members of the Israeli military following allegations of serious breaches of international humanitarian law committed in Gaza, the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Brussels said. The two people were questioned after legal complaints were filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network. The complaints were submitted on Friday and Saturday as the soldiers attended the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium. 'In light of this potential jurisdiction, the Federal Prosecutor's Office requested the police to locate and interrogate the two individuals named in the complaint,' said the prosecutor's office in a written statement on Monday. 'Following these interrogations, they were released.' The questioning was carried out under a new provision in Belgium's Code of Criminal Procedure, which came into effect last year. It allows Belgian courts to investigate alleged violations abroad if the acts fall under international treaties ratified by Belgium – including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture. The prosecutor's office said it would not release further information at this stage of the investigation. The Hind Rajab Foundation, based in Belgium, has been campaigning for legal action against Israeli soldiers over alleged war crimes in Gaza. It is named after a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli fire while fleeing Gaza City with her family early in Israel's war on Gaza. (Agencies)
Roya News
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Hind Rajab Foundation pursues 'Israeli' soldiers at Belgium music festival
The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), in collaboration with the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), has filed urgent legal complaints with the Belgian Federal Prosecutor, demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of two 'Israeli' soldiers attending the Tomorrowland music festival. The foundation says these individuals are implicated in grave international crimes, including war crimes and genocide, committed during 'Israel's' ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, leveraging Belgium's universal jurisdiction laws. The HRF's action was prompted by the alleged presence of young 'Israeli' soldiers at Tomorrowland waving the flag of the 'Israeli' Givati Brigade, a unit the HRF says is "extensively documented for its role in the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and for carrying out mass atrocities against the Palestinian population". The foundation asserts that the Givati flag has become a "symbol of impunity, destruction, and ethnic cleansing". The individuals are accused of direct involvement in crimes such as indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, use of torture and human shields, mass arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and deliberate infliction of conditions calculated to destroy the Palestinian population. The Hind Rajab Foundation, established in September 2024 and named after a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, aims to challenge 'Israeli' impunity for alleged war crimes. Co-founded by Dyab Abou Jahjah, the HRF employs open-source intelligence (OSINT) to monitor social media posts by 'Israeli' soldiers for evidence of criminal activity, then files cases when subjects enter countries with universal jurisdiction. This strategy has led to reported instances of 'Israeli' soldiers fleeing countries like Brazil and Argentina to evade arrest, and an 'Israeli' cabinet minister canceling a visit to Belgium due to arrest risks. The 'Israeli' Foreign Ministry is aware of 28 such claims in eight countries, many attributed to HRF. While 'Israeli' officials publicly downplay the threat, the military has implemented new rules to protect troops' privacy and warned against social media posts that could lead to legal action abroad.
Al Jazeera
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UK 'prioritising' military contracts over Palestinian lives
UK "prioritising' military contracts over Palestinian lives Quotable Jennine Walker from Global Legal Action Network talks about the court case put forward by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq to stop the UK supplying parts to the Israeli air force. Video Duration 01 minutes 06 seconds 01:06 Video Duration 01 minutes 01 seconds 01:01 Video Duration 01 minutes 06 seconds 01:06 Video Duration 01 minutes 13 seconds 01:13 Video Duration 00 minutes 56 seconds 00:56 Video Duration 01 minutes 04 seconds 01:04 Video Duration 01 minutes 29 seconds 01:29
