Under international law, all countries that have signed onto the Genocide Convention are mandated to both prevent and stop genocides, and yet the genocide of Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, has continued unabated. Given the failure of most governments to fulfill their duties, civilians from around the world are organizing humanitarian flotillas to break through the blockade on Gaza. Clearing the FOG speaks with James Marc Leas, a lawyer and Palestine solidarity activist who is in Italy to support the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. He discusses the conditions in Palestine, the laws, and Israel’s illegal seizure of Global Sumud Flotilla boats and activists.
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James Marc Leas is a patent attorney and a past co-chair of the NLG Palestine Subcommittee. He drafted submissions to the ICC prosecutor on behalf of the Palestine Subcommittee that showed that neither the facts nor the law fit Israel’s claim that it acts in “self-defense” against rockets. He collected evidence in Gaza immediately after Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 as part of a 20-member delegation from the US and Europe and authored or co-authored articles describing findings, including “Why the Self-Defense Doctrine Doesn’t Legitimize Israel’s Assault on Gaza.” He participated in the 2009 NLG delegation to Gaza immediately after Operation Cast Lead and contributed to its report, “Onslaught: Israel’s Attack on Gaza and the Rule of Law.” Over 20 of his articles on Israeli attacks on Palestine have been published on Truthout, Counterpunch, Mondoweiss, Opednews, and the Huffington Post. He has been an active member of the campaign to end Israel’s wars and occupations since 1982. Before becoming an attorney, James was an engineer at IBM, and he holds over 40 patents for his inventions. While an IBM employee he led a vigorous campaign to end IBM sales to South Africa. He also served as a staff physicist for the Union of Concerned Scientists in its Washington, DC office for a year in the aftermath of the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. He is a graduate of MIT and completed all but the dissertation toward a PhD in physics from the University of Massachusetts. He is a member of the Vermont Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and NLG. He can be reached at jimmy@vermontpatentlawyer.com. You will find his reporting on Substack under the title Cancel the F35.
