Americans in Israel Sue Clinton for US Funding of Arab Terror Two dozen Americans in Israel are suing Hillary Clinton for negligence in allowing the US to fund the PA, which used money for terror.

Two dozen Americans in Israel are suing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for negligence in allowing the United States to fund the Palestinian Authority, which used money for terror.

The suit was filed in a federal U.S. court in Washington by the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin), which has revolutionized the war against terror through “lawfare,” winning colossallawsuits against terrorist organizations and banks that handle their funds.

The Federal suit alleges that the U.S. State Department violated the Anti-Terrorism Act, and abandoned Congressional safeguards, transparency and reporting requirements.

Clinton allegedly ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements attached to American aid to the Palestinian Authority, the Law Center stated.

The plaintiffs also claim that the White House has not been complying with theregulations and reporting obligations governing presidential waivers which facilitate emergency funding to the PA.

The United States Department of State, under the  Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, is prohibited from providing “material support” to proscribed terrorist groups.

It is estimated that since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the United States State Department, via USAID, has given over $4 billion to PA Arabs, with portions of that funding illegally landing in the hands of terrorists. During the last four fiscal years, average aid has been roughly $600 million per year.

Additionally, the United States gives approximately $200 million to the United Nations body UNRWA each year, and during the fiscal years 2008 and 2009, UNRWA gave roughly $500 million of their funding to recipients in the West Bank and Gaza.

Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the State Department is required to certify that the Palestinian government is committed to a peace co-existence with Israel before distributing funds, and ensure that no part of funding is used for Palestinian terrorism.   

“As a result of this non-compliance, US funds have been flowing to terror groups like Hamas, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine\ (PFLP) and the Palestine Liberation Front,” the Israel Law center wrote.

The Americans in Israel filed the lawsuit, relying on the basis that they are among those that Congress sought to protect through the safeguards and regulations that the White House, State Department and USAID are disregarding.

USAID distributes funds for programs in the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Refugee Worker's Administration (UNRWA) in Gaza. Arutz Sheva previously disclosed evidence (here and here) that many of the programs are used to incite terror.

The suit asks the federal court to review the conduct of the State Department and the safeguards on funds, with an order to suspend future U.S. aid to the PA and UNRWA until the Obama administration complies with Congressionally legislated regulations.  

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the director of  Israel Law Center, stressed that "once handed over, US funding of the PA and UNRWA is difficult to trace and the State Department has been lax in requiring the Palestinians to utilize bank accounts and other transfer methods that ensure transparency."

The founder of the Israeli counter-terror group added that "elements of the US Government, particularly the State Department and USAID, are breaking the law and must cease all funding of the PA immediately. US aid to the Palestinians is killing innocent people.”

New York attorney Norman Steiner, who also is representing the plaintiffs, added, "The American people are opposed to terror and do not want to fund it via their taxes. The ongoing non-compliance of the White House and State Department with Congressionally mandated protections cannot be allowed to continue."

Bank of China Behind Murder of Yeshiva Students A $1 billion lawsuit filed in New York state court against the Bank of China alleges that it intentionally and recklessly provided services to terrorist groups.

A $1 billion lawsuit filed on Tuesday in New York state court against the Bank of China alleges that it “intentionally and recklessly” provided services to terrorist groups via its New York branch. The suit was filed by the families of eight Israeli high school students who were murdred on March 2008 in a shooting in Jerusalem, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The civil lawsui alleges that the Bank of China made dozens of wire transfers for the Hamas terrorist gorp, to the tune of several million dollars, starting in 2003.

The money transfers were coordinated by the Hamas from Iran and Syria, according to the lawsuit, and was processed through the U.S. branches of the Bank of China, then sent to a Bank of China account in China owned by the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. From there the money was transferred to the Gaza strip and the PA territories, to fund terrorist attacks.

According to the lawsuit, Israeli officials met with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and China’s central bank in 2005, to urge them to prevent the Bank of China from making these wire transfers, but they were ignored.

A representative for Bank of China in New York could not be reached by Dow Jones Newswires.

Five families are named as plaintiffs in the Bank of China suit seeking $1 billion in compensatory and punitive damages. Eight students died on March 6, 2008, when Islamist terrorist entered the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem and started shooting at the students.

U.S. Court: Syria, Iran Supported 2006 Tel Aviv Attack Shurat HaDin wins judgment against Iran and Syria for supporting terrorists who killed an American teenager in a 2006 bombing.

Israeli advocacy group Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) won a $323 million judgment in a U.S. court against Iran and Syria for supporting terrorists who killed an American teenager and ten others in a 2006 bombing, The Associated Pressreported on Tuesday.

The group’s attorney, Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, told AP that Shurat HaDin had won courtroom victories against Iran but never before against Syria.

The center was representing the family of 16-year-old Daniel Wultz of Florida, who was one of 11 people killed when an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber set off his explosives at a Tel Aviv restaurant six years ago. Daniel's father was severely injured in the attack.

Darshan-Leitner told AP that Iran supports the Islamic Jihad movement financially while Syria had granted the group a haven to train in its territory.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said in the Monday ruling, according to AP, “When a state chooses to uses terror as a policy tool - as Iran and Syria continue to do - that state forfeits its sovereign immunity and deserves unadorned condemnation. Barbaric acts like the April 17, 2006 suicide bombing have no place in civilized society and present a moral depravity that knows no bounds.”

An American lawyer representing Syria argued the case should be dismissed on the grounds of “sovereign immunity” but the court dismissed it, the report said.

Darshan-Leitner said there is a good chance that the victim's family will get compensation through frozen Syrian assets held by the U.S.

“For the first time an American court is holding the government of Syria accountable for its decades-long support of terrorism,” she told AP.

Darshan-Leitner has won hundreds of millions of dollars for terror victims in lawsuitsagainst Muslim terror groups.

US judge decides to help out PLO terrorists

From Suits and Sentences:

The Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority will get an unusual second chance to challenge a very expensive lawsuit that had previously been ignored.

This is something you don't see every day. In April 2005, after the defendants essentially stopped responding, a federal court issued a default judgment in favor of the victims of a February 2002 suicide bombing in the West Bank village of Karnei Shomron. Two American teenagers died in the bombing of the pizza parlor, and many others were injured.
The victims and family members sued Syria as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority and others. By defaulting, the Palestinian organizations faced a judgment potentially exceeding $300 million. Now, though, they want a chance to contest the lawsuit.

In a decision made public Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said that though"the default was wilfull at the time, (the Palestinian organizations) clearly demonstrated their commitment to engaging in this litigation." Moreover, Leon noted, imposing a massive liability "on a struggling government, even if that government is not a recognized state, is not something this court takes lightly."

And so the case is back on.

It sounds like the judge decided to allow the PLO to reopen the case because, gosh darn it, it would hurt their struggling government too much if the previous decision for them to pay up would be enforced.

All we are saying, is give terrorists a chance.

NY judge cites PLO offices in US as he allows lawsuits over Israel bombings to proceed

A New York judge has concluded that he has jurisdiction to preside over litigation resulting from a lawsuit filed against the Palestine Liberation Organization by victims of bombings in Israel.
Federal Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said in a written order Wednesday that the PLO had offices in Washington and New York during a three-year period when the bombings occurred. He said that creates enough of a connection to the United States to allow the lawsuit to proceed here. The ruling came in a 2004 lawsuit that seeks up to $3 billion in damages as a result of attacks between January 2001 and February 2004.
The Jerusalem-area attacks killed 33 people and wounded hundreds, including scores of U.S. citizens.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.