NEWS GLEAMS | $10M Settlement Reached in BLM Lawsuit; ICJ Concludes Israel May Be Engaged in Genocide

A roundup of news and announcements we don't want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle!

by Vee Hua 華婷婷

City of Seattle Reaches $10 Million Settlement for Black Lives Matter Lawsuit

The City of Seattle has agreed to a $10 million settlement to a lawsuit brought by over 50 Black Lives Matter protesters who said they were attacked by the Seattle Police Department (SPD) in the summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd.

In the lawsuit, the protesters contrasted SPD's violent response to the Black Lives Matter protests to SPD's peaceful response to the global Women's March. The protesters alleged they were exercising their First Amendment rights and that SPD purposely engaged in discrimination and brutality. They wrote, "The SPD defied conditions of a Federal Consent Decree and violated its own policies, practices, and procedures. Peaceful protesters were unlawfully arrested and imprisoned."

They also cited a 2015 report by the Community Police Commission (CPC), which raised issues around SPD "herding" or "directing marchers away from their intended destinations"; making inaccurate statements; targeting specific leaders of the demonstrations; using harmful amounts of pepper spray, blast balls, and other projectiles; and differing treatment toward demonstrators of perceived different racial or political identities.

Among those individuals who were represented in the lawsuit was Aubreanna Indo — a protester who fell into cardiac arrest after being hit in the chest by a blast ball.

Following the settlement of the case and without the City's acknowledgment of wrongdoing, City Attorney Ann Davison stated, "This decision was the best financial decision for the city considering risk, cost, and insurance. The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the city and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May."

International Court of Justice Concludes Israel May Be Engaged in Genocide; Stops Short of Cease-Fire Ruling

On Jan. 11, 2023, South Africa testified in its case, South Africa v. Israel, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the world's first permanent international criminal court, located in The Hague, Netherlands. South Africa's case alleged that Israel is participating in the genocide of the Palestinian people and urged the court to issue a cease-fire in the ongoing war on Gaza.

Allegations of genocide are often difficult to prove in a court of law, as they require proof of "genocidal intent." Yet South Africa stated there was an "extraordinary feature in this case, that Israel's political leaders, military commanders, and persons holding official positions, have systematically, and in explicit terms, declared their genocidal intent — and these statements are then repeated by soldiers on the ground in Gaza, as they engage in the destruction of Palestinians and the physical infrastructure of Gaza." South Africa used video, social media content, quotes from Israel's leadership, and facts from humanitarian organizations to further demonstrate Israel's genocidal intent.

Though ICJ cases may often take years to reach their full deliberations, because of the urgency of Israel's war in Gaza, the ICJ took two weeks to deliberate on an interim ruling with provisional measures. The ICJ found it plausible and likely that Israel is participating in genocide of the Palestinian people within the Gaza Strip and called for Israel to do everything within its power to prevent genocide from happening.

"At present, many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have no access to the most basic foodstuffs, potable water, electricity, essential medicines, or heating," stated the ICJ. Among the provisional measures they issued, the ICJ said that, according to the Genocide Convention, Israel needed to "take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of article 2 of the Convention," including: "a) killing members of the group, b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, or d) imposing measures intended to prevent birth within its group."

The ICJ did not, however, explicitly call for a cease-fire. Some legal experts have supposed, though, that the limitations ICJ placed on Israel make its ruling essentially a cease-fire, though not by name.

ICJ rulings are legally binding, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ruling as "hypocrisy and lies," and had previously stated that nobody — neither Iran nor the ICJ — could stop Israel's war in Gaza. The implementation of any ICJ ruling requires the United Nations Security Council to put into place mechanisms for holding countries accountable. However, in November and December 2023, the U.S. vetoed numerous calls for a cease-fire in both the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council. Even if a majority of member states pass such resolutions, they are not legally binding in the U.N. General Assembly, and in the legally binding U.N. Security Council, any of the five permanent members, including the U.S., can overrule the majority decision with a veto.

Free Dental, Vision, and Medical Services at Seattle Center Feb. 15—18

From Feb. 15 to 18, the Seattle/King County Clinic will offer free dental, vision, and medical services at Fisher Pavilion in Seattle Center. All services are free, no IDs are required, and interpreters are available on-site.

The services are first-come, first-serve, and patients do not have to reside in Seattle or King County. A limited number of admission tickets will be distributed starting at 5:30 a.m.

More information and flyers in other languages can be found online at SeattleCenter.org/Patients.

📸 Featured Image: The Seattle Police Department let off some flash grenades and sprayed pepper spray in an effort to disperse protesters May 30, 2020, during a protest over the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police on May 25. (Photo: Susan Fried)

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