by Jack
The oldest bank in the Middle East, the Arab Bank is being sued in a Brooklyn court by the survivors of terrorists attacks by Palestinians and Hamas.
The suit alleges the Arab Bank knowing and purposefully abetted terrorist attacks by providing financial services to people and organizations linked to Hamas.
The authority for this suit comes from the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1990, whereby Americans (or their estates) can claim damages in federal court for injuries caused by terrorism anywhere in the world. The law was passed in response to the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American who was shot in cold blood and then tossed off an Italian cruise ship by Palestinian hijackers.
The lawsuit, which was first filed in 2004, originally involved only six families affected by Hamas attacks, including the parents of a two-year-old child killed in a bus bombing. But more victims have signed up: there are now 297 plaintiffs; and hundreds of other claims are pending.
The plaintiffs accuse Arab Bank of having helped Hamas in three different ways. First, it transferred funds from the Saudi Committee, ostensibly a charity, to relatives of 55 suicide-bombers. One payment went to the family of a man who bombed a restaurant in Jerusalem in 2001, killing 15 people including seven children. This encouraged suicide bombers by providing for their families after their death. second, the bank maintained accounts for another dozen charities that the plaintiffs contend were merely fronts for Hamas. The final connection was by providing personal accounts for 30 senior members of Hamas, including Ahmad Yassin, the group’s spiritual leader, who was designated a terrorist by the American government in 1995, and Salah Shehadeh, the founder of its military arm.
The suit states the Arab Bank assisted in financial transactions despite knowing that the people and organizations named were involved in terrorism. The Arab Bank of New York is the defendant as is Hamas, however the latter is unlikely to respond to the summons.
“…however the latter is unlikely to respond to the summons.” That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. What do we propose to do when the bad guys refuse to play by the “rules”?
Once upon a time the Roman’s had a solution for uncooperative locals, worked rather well for hundreds of years, little hard on the locals, but it did work.
What’s the old saying, “When in Palestine…do as the Romans?” : )
Steel yourself.