A member of a delegation of lawyers that traveled to Gaza in February spoke to a group of Palestinian rights activists in Dearborn on Tuesday about the fact-finding mission.

Linda Mansour, one of nine National Lawyers Guild delegates who traveled to Gaza in February on a fact-finding mission, speaks to representatives of the Palestine Office and other activist groups at the Arab American National Museum on Tuesday. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN

Ohio attorney Linda Mansour, one of nine representatives of the National Lawyers Guild who took part in the fact-finding mission, told a small crowd at the Arab American National Museum that while legal action surrounding the December-January 22-day Israeli military offensive in Gaza is picking up in Europe, she doesn’t expect the group to be able to file suit in the U.S.
“We’re not too hopeful about bringing a case in the States, but we’re hoping to get an investigation of the weaponry,” Mansour said.

The delegation, currently compiling a report of their findings, witnessed the aftermath of the onslaught, documenting accounts from Gazans and aid workers of “executions of civilians, blocking of humanitarian aid and destruction of civil property,” according to February National Lawyers Guild press releases.

Mansour said that while there were difficulties in compiling evidence, like a lack of autopsies performed on Gazans killed by potentially illegal weapons, the level of devastation witnessed and photographed by the group could go a long way to spread awareness and action.

“It’s not going to be overnight… but if we can get people to listen… even if we can just get two congressmen to listen, we’re doing something,” she said.

“This one — they can’t escape this, if the pressure is kept on.”

The New York-based National Lawyers Guild is the largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the U.S.

According to one February press release, the delegation witnessed the rubble of an advanced American-style private school, the American International School, destroyed in a Jan. 3 aerial attack.

“Israel doesn’t want anything good or bright in Gaza,” the school’s Director Ribhi Salem told the group. “They want us to live in the dark ages, just waiting in line for gas and bread.”

The group has reported the targeting of other non-military entities in the offensive, including a tahini and sweets factory in Jabaliyya, “leaving the poverty-stricken population more aid dependent.”

“You can not deny what we saw,” said Mansour on Tuesday. “It’s as if the Palestinians are not humans… We’re calling for the U.S. to hold (the Israelis) responsible and enforce our laws.”