Posted on 09/11/2012 2:42:02 AM PDT by ilcenter
TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- An Israeli human rights organization says it has proved the war on terror can be fought by private lawyers and won -- without the help of diplomats or armies.
In a telephone interview with United Press International, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin -- Israel Law Center, a non-profit human rights organization -- explained how a group of lawyers has succeeded in its fight against terror groups -- litigating, on behalf of terror victims, against banks and organizations that provide funds for terrorism.
"We started at the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000 [Palestinian popular resistance uprising waged against Israel], but following the attacks in America on Sept. 11 [2001] our activities increased," she said.
"In the beginning no one knew how to bring terrorist organizations to court, how you litigate, bring those responsible to justice and collect monetary compensation on behalf of the terror victims' once judgment has been given."
The organization has filed cases against Syria, Iran, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad, Hamas and North Korea, to name a few.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the courts in the United States changed their interpretation of the law, making it possible to file suits against organizations she said. The drawback is terrorist organizations must be officially designated as such in the country the lawsuits take place. Because of this, the organization's cases are mainly filed in Israel, the United States, Canada and some European countries.
Darshan-Leitner her organization's work has been instrumental in making banks realize they can be held accountable and forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to terror victims in compensation.
"Today no bank in the Western world provides financial aid to Islamic organizations or suspected terror groups," she said. "No bank agrees to operate in a terror zone. There are no banks in Gaza. The people smuggle money into Gaza via the tunnels."
Recently, Shurat HaDin filed a case against National Westminster Bank in England, accusing it of aiding and abetting terror by providing funds to the Hamas-affiliated Islamic charity Interpal. Because it is not designated as a terror group in England, Shurat HaDin filed suit in the United States, she said.
The process can be lengthy. Some lawsuits filed in 2000, for instance, are still active although others filed later have been concluded, she said. The organization is now handling about 70 cases.
So far, Shurat HaDin has won more than $1 billion in court rulings, frozen more than $600 million in terror assets and collected $120 million for victims, Darshan-Leitner said.
In some cases, the organization succeeded in forcing the sale of art collections that belonged to Iran, or real estate, she said.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the changes in regulations and the attitude of some governments toward terrorists have forced terrorist organizations to change their strategies -- to operate in the guise of charity organizations and invest millions of dollars in the local population, providing them with food, medical care and other assistance, she said.
"They are buying the people and taking control of them. When the time comes, they take advantage of the people and wage attacks from civilian areas," she said.
Funds are also used to pay salaries to military personnel affiliated with Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah even if they are not active, Darshan-Leitner said.
"Governments cannot stop terror funds. It is hard to go after the money and this is where a civilian war against terror comes into play. Governments cannot sue other governments, terrorist organizations or banks. It can only be done privately," she said.
More than a few bogus loans acquired from the U.S. Small Business Administration by Middle Eastern business owners have been used for these purposes and they can be quite difficult to detect because they look legitimate on paper and often operate gas stations and lodging facilities that do exist. Usually the business owners have a network of shell companies that assist them in this process. You have to do a pretty fair amount of due diligence to catch it. I have and have caught probably about 5 or 6 over the years though I’m sure I missed a lot too.
If Atta had crashed into the ATLA HQ instead of the Towers...
Mississippi is the worst place I have ever seen for wasps and hornets. If I am stung by one of those pests, I do not hunt it down to kill that insect. I find its hive, and kill them all.
PC has cut the Balls off of America.
Just like a bull now we just want to graze and get fat.
Someone needs to point out to this yo-yo “VICTIM” implies after the fact.
You haven't stopped anything if you go after them after the fact.
You want to stop terrorist attacks, you have to kill the terrorist before the fact.
Yeah...lawyers...that’ll show ‘em...
Because we ALL know that “Stop, Or I’ll Get My Lawyer After you!” works soooooooooooo much better than a 5.56 or 7.62 to the head.
Author is an idiot.
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