Nitsana Darshan-Leitner is all of the above, and more.
She is a lawyer, an activist, a loyal wife and a loving mother of six - among them a set of triplets! She is the founder and director of a powerful law center, which sues terrorist organizations in civilian courts. While she is indeed a pretty petite brunette, she is the nemesis of terrorists, banks, and organizations and states that sponsor or support terrorism.
Born in Petach Tikvah, Israel, Nitsana Darshan earned her law degree at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law and later, an MBA from Manchester University in the UK. As a law student at Bar-Ilan in the mid-1990s, she had a chance to argue a case before the Supreme Court. The petition she filed was on behalf of the victims of the 1985 "Achille Lauro" hijacking and a move to prevent the hijacker, Muhammad (Abu) Abbas, from entering Israel. Although the petition was rejected, the lesson Nitsana derived from the case as a human-rights activist and a litigator inspired her to eventually establish the Israel Law Center called, Shurat HaDin, (Justice) to help victims of terrorism.
Ms. Darshan-Leitner's Shurat HaDin followed the example of the American Southern Poverty Law Center to "go after terrorists in the same way that they were going after racists." Just as they were dedicated to bankrupting the KKK and other neo-Nazi groups in the U.S., Shurat HaDin has aimed to economically destroy the hate groups in the Middle East. Ms. Darshan-Leitner began to study the American legislation and legal system regarding terrorist groups. Once fully informed, litigator Leitner initiated the suits by approaching victims in Israel who had been unaware that they had legal rights and that such a recourse existed.
The Shurat HaDin organization under Nitsana Darshan-Leitner's direction, focuses on providing legal services and representation to victims of terrorist attacks, torture victims, the victims of anti-Semitic violence and those being illegally persecuted by totalitarian regimes. The Shurat HaDin organization works with a staff of young, maverick Israeli attorneys to represent hundreds of terror victims in lawsuits against Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Syria, Islamic Jihad and numerous financial institutions litigated in the Israeli, American, Canadian and European courts.
"Money is the mother's milk of terrorism. Stop the flow of money and we can stop the flow of terrorism. peacefully and without violence in the courtroom." Proceeding on her philosophy, in February 2002, Ms. Darshan-Leitner won a judgment in an American court of $183 million against Iran for its role in a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Since then her office has won judgments of over $702 million against terrorist organizations, including the Palestinian Authority, and their state sponsors.
The range of Nitsana's activities for her people is staggering. Her attention drawn to the Waqf (the Muslim authority) destroying archeological artifacts on the Temple Mount, Litigator Nitsana, utilizing a section of Israel's penal code that allows private citizens to bring criminal suits against an individual or group, prompted 150 Israeli citizens to file a criminal complaint against Waqf officials. "The Temple Mount is the property of the Jewish nation and has been for thousands of years. Therefore the Jewish people have a right to indict Wafq officials," Nitsana, director of the Shurat HaDin Israeli Law Center, declared.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner is, first and foremost, the relentless fighter for the rights of the Jewish people.
Ms. Darshan-Leitner's Shurat HaDin followed the example of the American Southern Poverty Law Center to "go after terrorists in the same way that they were going after racists." Just as they were dedicated to bankrupting the KKK and other neo-Nazi groups in the U.S., Shurat HaDin has aimed to economically destroy the hate groups in the Middle East. Ms. Darshan-Leitner began to study the American legislation and legal system regarding terrorist groups. Once fully informed, litigator Leitner initiated the suits by approaching victims in Israel who had been unaware that they had legal rights and that such a recourse existed.
The Shurat HaDin organization under Nitsana Darshan-Leitner's direction, focuses on providing legal services and representation to victims of terrorist attacks, torture victims, the victims of anti-Semitic violence and those being illegally persecuted by totalitarian regimes. The Shurat HaDin organization works with a staff of young, maverick Israeli attorneys to represent hundreds of terror victims in lawsuits against Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Syria, Islamic Jihad and numerous financial institutions litigated in the Israeli, American, Canadian and European courts.
"Money is the mother's milk of terrorism. Stop the flow of money and we can stop the flow of terrorism. peacefully and without violence in the courtroom." Proceeding on her philosophy, in February 2002, Ms. Darshan-Leitner won a judgment in an American court of $183 million against Iran for its role in a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Since then her office has won judgments of over $702 million against terrorist organizations, including the Palestinian Authority, and their state sponsors.
The range of Nitsana's activities for her people is staggering. Her attention drawn to the Waqf (the Muslim authority) destroying archeological artifacts on the Temple Mount, Litigator Nitsana, utilizing a section of Israel's penal code that allows private citizens to bring criminal suits against an individual or group, prompted 150 Israeli citizens to file a criminal complaint against Waqf officials. "The Temple Mount is the property of the Jewish nation and has been for thousands of years. Therefore the Jewish people have a right to indict Wafq officials," Nitsana, director of the Shurat HaDin Israeli Law Center, declared.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner is, first and foremost, the relentless fighter for the rights of the Jewish people.
