Terrorist victim's father writes book, speaks out

The Plain Dealer ^ | November 12, 2012 | Sarah Jane Tribble

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Just weeks after a billion-dollar lawsuit was filed in a New York state court against the Bank of China, one of the litigants arrived in Cleveland and talked about how the suit is an attempt to stop terror.

Naftali Moses, the father of Avraham David, a high school student who died at the Mercaz Harav Jerusalem terror attack in 2008, said Sunday during a break in his book tour that the suit is "obviously not to get rich" but rather to attempt to cut off funds to terrorist organizations.

"You can't sue a terrorist organization because they are not going to show up in court," said Moses, who grew up in New York but has lived in Israel for decades. "What can you do? The strategy is instead of trying to slapping at the mosquitoes, try to dry up the swamp."

Eight seminary students were killed and others were injured in March 2008 when a Palestinian man from eastern Jerusalem opened fire with automatic weapons before killing himself. Moses' son was studying in the Mercaz HaRav library in Jerusalem when he was killed.

Moses, who has a doctorate of philosophy in medical history, wrote "Mourning Under Glass," which deals with the tension between his private mourning and the attention made to such a public event.

The attacks drew global attention and, at the time, the radical Islamic Hamas movement praised the deed but did not claim it. Later, the group claimed responsibility, according to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center.

Darshan-Leitner represents the five families who filed the suit, Rot v. Bank of China. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the victims.

"The banking giant knowingly assisted the Islamic group to carry out this Jerusalem attack with the full approval of the Chinese government," Darshan-Leitner said in a prepared statement.

The suit alleges that starting in 2003, the bank performed dozens of wire transfers for Hamas leadership in Iran and Syria. The transfers were processed through Bank of China branch in New York city, Darshan-Leitner said in a call from Israel.

The law center has filed several cases against banks since 2004, Darshan-Leitner said. All of the suits are pending.

"The only way to block this tunnel (of money flow) is actually to sue the bank," she said. The idea, she added, is to make the banks "very reluctant to keep providing financial services to terrorist organizations."

[SatinDoll]

Luck, Naftali Moses. I wish you success in your lawsuit.