Western Mass Institutions Found Guilty of Complicty in Genocide at Western Massachusetts People’s Tribunal on Gaza

A few blocks down from the Amherst Town Common, where the weekly farmers market was taking place, the Universalist Unitarian Church was full and ready for the Western Massachusetts People’s Tribunal on Saturday October 25.

As some of the tribunal organizers finished setting up chairs and microphones on stage for the full house, a line of people waited outside the door, their wrists adorned with colored bands permitting access and many with traditional Palestinian scarfs, known as keffiyehs, draped over their shoulders.

More than 150 students and community members of all ages joined more than 11 local activist organizations to put the University of Massachusetts Amherst and other Western MA institutions on trial for their complicity in the genocide in Gaza. Some of the activist groups include: Western MA Jewish Voice for Peace, Stop L3Harris, Radical STEM Bloc (Western MA Science for the People and UMass Dissenters STEM Caucus), Hampshire College Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Smith College SJP  and UMass SJP. 

The tribunal took place inside the church from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., while a vigil outside welcomed participants without a ticket to light candles, read names of people lost during the war, read and listen to Palestinian poetry, and make paper poppies led by the poppies4palestine art project. Rabbi Esther Azar led prayer as well.

A video of the complete tribunal, along with slides and other documents, is available on its YouTube and on the tribunal web site.

What Does the People’s Tribunal Look Like in Amherst?
The organizers define a People’s Tribunal as “a grassroots, community-based forum for gathering evidence, sharing testimony, and pursuing justice and accountability beyond the constraints of the official state institutions that perpetuate violence, exploitation, injustice, and impunity,” contrasting the lack of transparency in conversations and decisions happening behind closed doors.

Originally planned to be held at UMass Amherst in Spring, 2025, the tribunal had to be rescheduled due to threats against the organizers and threats to notify ICE officials of the event. One of the co-organizers, Koby Leff, recommended moving the event off campus and requiring proper training for volunteers to ensure public safety. 

With volunteers trained as ICE watchers, de-escalators, medics, and with legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild, and police liaisons prepared for any chance of an emergency, the tribunal was ready to take place in the fall.

Emery Powell, one of the organizers of the tribunal, worked outside at the vigil wearing a bright yellow vest and orange armband, classifying themselves as a trained volunteer. They explained that while it was disappointing to have to postpone the tribunal by six months, it provided an opportunity to train more people and prepare for safer, more productive activist events.

“A ton of work went into training a ton of folks, and now these folks are trained to…make other activist events happen safely,” they said. “Now if there is a threat at another event, we’re ready, and that’s really cool.” 

Tribunal Considers Six Cases
The tribunal started with six cases presented by the local activist organizations in attendance followed by audience deliberation and verdict, and finished with three judges sharing their conclusions. The event included some breaks for special guests to speak, like Palestinian-American activist Noura Erakat, as well as  an intermission.

Each activist organization was tasked with presenting its case with evidence proving complicity in genocide in Gaza and a request for  reparations. While most “prosecutors”  were students who came to hold their universities accountable, groups like Stop L3Harris charged L3Harris Technologies Inc, and more specifically the CEO, Chris Kubasik, with profiting from the war by producing weapons in Northampton.

With the audience acting as the jury, every participant was given a red card labeled “guilty” and a green card labeled “not guilty,” as well as a note card to write down thoughts and feedback for the organizers. 

As for the defense, the universities and companies were not invited to the tribunal. Instead, the organizers presented a semi-comedic rendition of what they expected the institutions would have argued based on their past responses to protests and emails.

Three judges chosen by the hosts decided on the reparations at the end of the trial: George Abraham, a Palestinian-American English writer in residence at Amherst College, Hannah Moushabeck, a Palestinian American children’s book author, and Isabel Espinal, a UMass librarian affiliated with the Spanish department. 

Despite mirroring the role of the judicial system for this event, the organizers asked the attendees to question the institutions and practices used by the state. The role of the “joker” reshaped a traditional moderator’s role to be more like a wild card facilitating conversation and satirical humor throughout the event.

Who Was on Trial?
Multiple institutions based in Western Massachusetts were put on trial for their alleged contributions to the genocide in Gaza.

Western MA Jewish Voice for Peace charged UMass with the weaponization of anti-semitism against the Palestinian community and pro-Palestine student activists. They claimed that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition that anti-Zionism is anti-semitism is false and harmful. 

In response, they demanded that UMass end all investigations of students, faculty, and staff for anti-semitism under the IHRA definition and replace it with the Jerusalem Declaration of Anti-semitism.

Groups from  three higher-education institutions in attendance, UMass Amherst, Smith College, and Hampshire College, each presented their cases for their own institutions to divest from any companies invested in Israel and to publicly label the conflict in Gaza as a genocide. 

The UMass SJP group, more specifically requested divestment as well as an end to the university’s partnership with military technology companies like RTX, formally known as Raytheon. This tied into the arguments made by the Radical STEM Bloc providing historical evidence that lucrative careers in the science field are dependent on income or funding supplied by the military industrial complex, which continues to be promoted by UMass.

Verdict
In the end, as the crowd turned to each other to deliberate, the majority of the room had already made their decision. Groups joked about how hard it was to choose and the Joker remarked, “Oh wow! This is a biased court,” as seas of red filled the room when each case was voted on. 

After the audience declared each institution guilty, the three judges reflected on the tribunal and evidence presented by sharing personal experiences.

Moushabeck reflected, “These guilty institutions pay lip service to the progressive politics they believe people want to hear while empowering warmongers and profiting from a genocide. When people say, ‘Oh, Palestine is not a local issue,’ I would beg them to listen to the arguments made today, because I think we heard and proved that it should be a concern of every single one of us.”

Abraham called out the Five College Consortium for their recent decision to end the Arabic program, and countered by suggesting the creation of a Five College Refaat Alareer Center for Decolonial Studies. 

What’s Next?
One thing is clear.  For the organizers of the People’s Tribunal, the fight is not over. 

On Tuesday, October 28, at 2:30 p.m. UMass SJP planned to present the verdict to the UMass administration. A rally  in front of the UMass Amherst Student Union was also planned for the same time.

After the tribunal, Powell shared their optimism about the success of the event. “I think it’s going to open the doors for many more safer events like this to take place,” they said.

Read More
People’s Tribunal Finds Local Institutions Guilty of Complicity in Genocide (The Shoestring)