Le tribunal pour la Palestine a été fondé sur le modèle du tribunal Russell pour la guerre du Viet-Nâm dirigé par Jean-Paul Sartre. À l’époque (1966), son fondateur, lord Russell, le formulait de la sorte : une instance « chargée d’expertiser et de juger la situation politique, diplomatique et humanitaire » issue de la guerre menée par les États-Unis contre les Vietnamiens. Il s’ouvrira officiellement le 1 er mars 2010 en Espagne, à Barcelone, la ville où l’idée symbolique d’une union des pays méditerranéens avait vu le jour en 1995.
Des réunions de préparation sont chargées de recenser tous les arguments qui permettront au droit de prendre sa juste place dans les relations entre Israéliens et Palestiniens et à la justice d’être rendue. Le tribunal Russell sur la Palestine n’est donc nullement un acte de militants illuminés, mais un travail d’avocats et de juristes. Son but est bien de faire respecter le droit international, non d’avoir un parti pris pavlovien contre l’État hébreu. Rappelons qu’une centaine de résolutions des Nations unies n’ont jamais été respectées par Israël depuis plus de soixante ans.

  Gilbert Achcar Professor, UK 

  Boutros Boutros-Ghali Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Egypt 

  Madam Nguyên Thi Bình Former Vice -President, Vietnam 

  Ahmed Ben Bella First President, Algeria 

  Djamel Bourras, Sportsman, France 

  Milan Ku-can Former President, Slovenia 

  Andreas Van Agt Former Prime Minister, Netherlands 

  Tariq Ali Writer, UK 

  Henri Alleg Journalist, France 

  Martin Almada Lawyer, Writer, Right Livelihood Award 2002, Paraguay 

  Kader Asmal Professor, Former Minister, MP, South Africa 

  Raymond Aubrac (and Lucie Aubrac †) Former Members of the French Resistance, France 

  Etienne Balibar Professor Emeritus, France 

  Anna Balletbò President of Fundació Internacional Olof Palme, Spain 

  Russell Banks Writer, USA 

  Mohammed Bedjaoui Former President of the International Court of Justice (The Hague), Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Algeria 

  Tony Benn, Peace activist, UK 

  Amar Bentoumi President Emeritus of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Algeria 

  John Berger Writer, UK 

  Karl Blecha Former Minister of Interior of Austria, Austria 

  Howard Brenton Writer, UK 

  Carmel Budiardjo Right Livelihood Award 1995, UK 

  Judith Butler Professor, USA 

  Eric Cantona, Acteur/Producteur, France 

  Franco Cavalli Former President of International Union Against Cancer, Switzerland 

  Monique Chemillier-Gendreau Professor Emeritus, France 

  Noam Chomsky Professor MIT, USA 

  Vicenzo Consolo Writer, Italy 

  Jonathan Cook Writer, Journalist, UK 

  Georges Corm Writer, Former Minister of Finance, Lebanon 

  Mairead Corrigan Maguire Nobel Peace Prize 1976, Northern Ireland 

  Raymond Deane, Composer and author, Ireland 

  John Dugard Former Special Rapporteur of UN on Palestine, South Africa 

  Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, writer, USA 

  Salim El Hoss, former Prime Minister, Lebanon 

  Miguel Angel Estrella Pianist, Former Ambassador to UNESCO, Argentina 

  Irene Fernandez Right Livelihood Award 2005, Malaysia 

  Norman Finkelstein Writer, USA 

  Cees Flinterman Director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, Netherlands 

  Eduardo Galeano Writer, Uruguay 

  Johan Galtung Founder and co-director of Transcend, Right Livelihood Award 1987, Norway 

  Costa Gavras, Realisateur, France 

  Susan George, Writer, France 

  Geraud de Geouffre de la Pradelle Professor Emeritus, France 

  Neve Gordon Political Scientist, Israel 

  Juan Goytisolo Writer, Spain 

  Trevor Griffiths Writer, UK 

  Juan Guzman Tapia Judge, Chile 

  Gisele Halimi Lawyer, Former Ambassador to UNESCO, France 

  Denis Halliday, Ex UN, Ireland 

  Jeff Halper Coordinator of ICAHD, Israel 

  Mohammed Harbi Historian, Algeria 

  Eric Hazan Writer, France 

  Stephane Hessel French Ambassador, France 

  François Houtart Professor Emeritus, Belgium 

  Nouri Abdel Razzaql Hussein, Secretary General of Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation, Egypt 

  Sonallah Ibrahim Elorfally writer, Egypt 

  Albert Jacquard Professor, France 

  Hina Jilani Lawyer and human rights activist, Pakistan 

  Alain Joxe Director of Studies at the EHESS, France 

  Hatim Kanaaneh Author, Palestine 

  Ghada Karmi Professor and author, Palestine 

  Ronnie Kasrils Former Minister, writer and activist, South Africa 

  Assaf Kfoury Professor, USA 

  Naomi Klein Writer, USA 

  Erwin Lanc Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Austria 

  Felicia Langer Lawyer, Writer, Right Livelihood Award 1990, Germany 

  Paul Laverty Screenwriter, UK 

  Mike Leigh, Filmmaker, UK 

  Ken Loach Filmmaker, UK 

  Alice Mahon, Former Member of Parliament, UK 

  José Antonio Martín Pallín Magistrado Emérito Sala II, Tribunal Supremo, Spain 

  Nur Masalha Director of the centre for Religion and History, Palestine 

  François Maspero Writer, France 

  Gustave Massiah Chairman of CRID, France 

  Avi Mograbi Filmmaker, Israel 

  Luisa Morgantini, Activist, Italy 

  Peter Mullan Filmmaker and actor, UK 

  Karma Nabulsi Academic and author, Palestine 

  Radhia Nasraoui Human Rights Lawyer, Tunisia 

  Susie Orbach Professor, UK 

  Willibald Pahr Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Austria 

  Ilan Pappe Professor, Israel 

  Simone Paris de Bollardière Movement for Non-violence Alternative, France 

  Tamar Pelleg-Sryck Human Rights Lawyer, Israel 

  Adolfo Péres Esquivel Nobel Peace Prize 1980, Argentina  

  Arthur Pestana "Pepetela" Writer, Angola 

  Jeremy Pikser Writer, USA 

  John Pilger Journalist, author, film maker, Australia 

  Harold Pinter † Writer, Nobel Prize in Litterature 2005, UK 

  Majid Rahnema writer, former member of Unesco’s executive board, Iran 

  François Rigaux Professor Emeritus, Belgium 

  Jacqueline Rose Professor, UK 

  Eric Rouleau, Writer, Former Ambassador, France 

  François Roux Lawyer, France 

  Jean Salmon Professor Emeritus, ULB, Belgium 

  Elias Sanbar Writer, Palestine 

  José Saramago Nobel Prize Literature 1998, Portugal 

  Aharon Shabtai, Poet, Israel 

  Jitendra Sharma Lawyer, President of International Association of Democratic Lawyers, India 

  Cindy Sheehan Peace activist and author, USA 

  Raji Surani Vice-President Of the FIDHs, Palestine 

  Vandana Shiva Right Livelihood Award 1993, India 

  Sulak Sivaraksa Professor, Right Livelihood Award 1995, Thailand 

  Philippe Texier Magistrate and Member of the UN Human Rights Committee, France 

  Rt Hon E.W Thomas Supreme Court, New Zealand 

  Gerard Toulouse Physicist, France 

  Andy de la Tour Actor/Screenwriter, UK 

  Sir Brian Urquhart Former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations, UK 

  Puthan Veetil Rajagopal President of Ekta parishad, India 

  Heikelina Verrijn Stuart, Juriste et philosophe du droit, Pays-Bas 

  Itala Vivan Professor, Italy 

  Naomi Wallace Playwright/Screenwriter, USA 

  Michel Warschawski Activist, Israel 

  Francisco Whitaker Right Livelihood Award 2006, Brazil 

  Betty Williams Nobel Peace Prize 1976, Northern Ireland 

  Jody Williams Nobel Peace Prize 1997, USA 

  Jean Ziegler sociologist, Switzerland 

  Howard Zinn † Author, USA