By EDITOR
In the last few weeks, announcements have been made about the launching of legal action against a number of countries that have been identified for providing support to Hamas for its murderous attacks in Israel on October 7th. This is a significant move in the use of the law to act against governments who sponsor acts of terror against innocent civilians.
Photo credit – Gage Skidmore
The American Defamation League (ADL) has launched a case on behalf of direct victims of the October 7th attacks who are/were American citizens, or US family members of victims. The action is being taken against Iran – the single biggest state sponsor of terror anywhere in the world – and Syria and North Korea “for providing material support that directly contributed to the 10/7 massacre,” explained the ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt during an announcement in early July. Evidence shows that the support provided was extensive: of a material, tactical and financial nature.
Greenblatt explained that the purpose of the action is to get justice for the victims and compensation for the families of the victims of the terror attacks, which were of a nature never seen before. The compensation would come from an American state fund, the Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. The action is taken on behalf of over 100 American citizens affected by the events of October 7th.
Of interest is that, in terms of the American Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, foreign governments cannot generally be the target of actions in American courts. However, the lawyers involved are using an exception to this Act: where terrorist activities have been sponsored by particular countries, the courts may allow civil damages actions against these foreign governments. The selection of the three countries for this action is owing to them being classified under American law as designated state sponsors of terrorism.
Greenblatt points out that the lawsuit is a means of countering the denialism seen around the world since the events of October 2023. It will ensure that the horror of the attacks is recorded in history, and that there will be official evidence of the brutality of the actions of Hamas.
Other legal action will be taken by Shurat Ha Din (Israel Law Centre), an Israeli organisation founded by lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. This dynamic woman, who has previously secured the freezing of millions of US Dollars geared for the funding of terror, and has won $3 billion in judgements for terror victims, explained the context of the legal action during a Jewish Report webinar called ‘Lawfare & Warfare: Bringing Justice for the Victims’ that many of our readers may have listened to.
Her actions are also based on the exception to the American Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. She explained that the US Congress confirmed the exception to the Act where a country’s actions reflect behaviour not in line with that of a sovereign state. This allows for an American citizen killed or injured abroad to sue for civil damages arising from state-sponsored terrorism.
Shurat Ha Din identifies a wide range of defendants, not only states who facilitate acts of terror. The organisation is going after charities that raise funds purportedly for the Palestinian people but whose funds are ultimately used by Hamas to purchase weapons, build its city of underground tunnels, and so on. It has also launched legal action against cryptocurrency firms that allowed for Hamas to avoid the limitations imposed on them as regards receiving Dollars – this was also in the context of donations supposedly meant to assist the Palestinian people.
In explaining these cases, it was indicated that it does not matter whether or not the defendant countries appear in court. The legal action will need to prove that a country like Iran was behind the deeds committed by organisations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah; and it will need to prove the damages incurred. The court can issue a judgement based on this and, once a judgement is granted, the legal process can enforce the payment of the damages through seizing assets of the country in the United States, such as buildings and bank accounts. The proceeds of these assets will be used to provide some compensation to the terror victims.
Darshan-Leitner explained that many of the plaintiffs choose to participate because they want to see money taken away from these states so that there is less available to them to commit other acts of terror.
These types of cases can take many years to conclude so it is not an easy process for the plaintiffs, who are also dealing with the emotional trauma of the loss of a loved one in a brutal manner. But, it is certainly a powerful route to take.
NOTE: The information used in this article comes from two webinars. No local legal expert has been involved in these cases, and so it has not been possible to verify the accuracy of the information.
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