Free Republic

A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group warned Australian supporters Thursday of a proposed boycott against Israel that their activities were racist and in violation of Australian federal anti-discrimination laws. Recently faculty and students at Sydney University called for the severing of links with Israeli institutions. In letters sent to Associate Professor Jake Lynch, Professor Stuart Rees and others, Shurat HaDin – the Israel Law Center – threatened to take legal action if they did not immediately discontinue their boycott campaign.

A resolution calling for the boycott of Israeli firms will not be put to a vote at TIAA-CREF’s upcoming shareholders meeting. The move comes after the pension fund giant received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to “take no action” on a submission by pro-Palestinian activists. This followed the company’s warning by an Israeli civil rights group that passage of the resolution would violate NY and Federal law. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, stressed that the development was “a major defeat for the extremist Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement taking aim at Israel.”...

Stephen Hawking's decision to boycott an Israeli conference in protest at the state's 46-year occupation of Palestine was derided as hypocritical by some, who pointed out that the celebrated scientist and author uses Israeli technology in the computer equipment that allows him to function. Hawking, 71, has suffered from motor neurone disease for the past 50 years, and relies on a computer-based system to communicate. According to Shurat HaDin, an Israel law centre which represents victims of terrorism, the equipment has been provided by the hi-tech firm, Intel, since 1997. "Hawking's decision to join the boycott of Israel is quite...

A British professor was caught red handed with Israeli products after calling for a boycott against Israel, according to a statement released by an International human rights organization. "Hawking's decision to join the boycott of Israel is quite hypocritical for an individual who prides himself on his own intellectual accomplishment. His whole computer-based communication system runs on a chip designed by Israel's Intel team. I suggest that if he truly wants to pull out of Israel he should also pull out his Intel Core i7 from his tablet" – this according to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin – Israel...

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Hitting terrorist groups where it hurts now means more than using guns and missiles. Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center uses U.S. anti-terror law to go after those who aid terrorist groups, knowingly or unknowingly. The Israel Law Center's motto is "Bankrupting terrorism--one lawsuit at a time." You might wonder how you sue a terror group. It's not easy. What the Israel Law Center finds more effective is to sue banks, insurance companies, corporations, even countries that knowingly or unknowingly work with terror groups. For instance, it could be a bank that holds an account that's...

TIAA-CREF officials are asking the SEC to allow it to take no action on a shareholder proposal by activist group Jewish Voice for Peace that would require it to consider divesting from companies that contribute to violations of human rights, including companies whose business supports Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Jewish Voice of Peace filed a shareholder proposal with the College Retirement Equities Fund on Feb. 8 that was signed by 200 investors, requesting that shareholders be allowed to vote on the issue at CREF's July annual meeting. The date and location of the meeting have not yet been...

The militarization of a population, the manner by which a regime systematically destines its people for a perpetual clash with an enemy, is a prime method for dangerously prolonging a conflict, sometimes for decades. Indeed, the past couple of weeks of unrestrained provocations have reminded us of the 60- year-old war footing maintained by the North Korean government against the West. But one need not look so far eastward to find another example of a regime using its resources for waging hostilities with both its external and internal enemies. Indeed, Israelis can find a more telling example of a government...

Asserting that no individual has done more than former President Jimmy Carter to defame Israel and to challenge its right to exist, a group of readers filed a class action suit against Carter and the Simon & Schuster publishing company, back in February, 2011, alleging that Carter’s book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," contains numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised. The suit, Unterberg et al. v. Jimmy Carter et.al (11 cv 0720), filed in the United States District Court...

The U.S. State Department has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a group of Americans who claim U.S. aid money helps fund Palestinian terrorism. The 24 Americans now living in Israel who are the plaintiffs in the case filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for Washington, DC in November claiming that the State Department had ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements which govern financial assistance to the PA. In a statement, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs and director of the Tel Aviv-based Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center ) explained: “Rather...

A Us judge has ruled that the Palestinian Authority has the right to cover up a memo linking it to a suicide bombing that killed two teen American citizens in Israel, The Post has learned. The document — accidentally handed over to lawyers suing the authority for $300 million on behalf of the teens’ parents — reveals a “close relationship” between the bomber and a captain in the Palestinian Authority security forces who planned the terror attack, court papers say. The two-page memo, written in April 2012 by Maj. Ziad Abu Hamid of the authority’s General Intelligence Service, also details...

A Tel Aviv based law center has represented two families of American citizens in their successful $338 million lawsuit against the government of Syria. The decision, handed down Monday in the United States district court for Washington D.C., found that the government of Syria was responsible for providing material support and resources to the Kurdish Workers Party ("PKK"), a terrorist organization designated by the U.S. State Department. Chief District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Syria was vicariously liable for the PKK's 1991 kidnapping of a group of American biblical archeologists leading an excavation in Turkey. The Americans, who were...

A group of Israeli-Americans has filed suit against the Obama administration, alleging that U.S. aid money to the Palestinian Authority funds terrorist activities. The lawsuit charges that federal aid money directed to the Palestinian Authority ultimately ends up in the hands of Hamas and other militant groups committed to war against Israel. Hamas is designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The lawsuit charges that the State Department is ignoring congressionally-mandated safeguards to keep money out of the hands of such entities. "The American people are opposed to terror and do not want to fund it via...

A group of 24 Americans living in Israel, some of them victims of terror, on Tuesday filed a civil action lawsuit against the United States government over what they claim is its funding of Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The plaintiffs were being represented by the Tel Aviv-based Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, a legal advocacy group that combats terror organizations. The lawsuit, which was filed in Washington, DC, contends that the State Department and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ignored Congressional safeguards and transparency requirements attached to US aid to the Palestinian Authority,...

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 colossal lawsuits 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...

Dual US-Israeli citizens filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and the State Department claiming that the US administration provided the Palestinian Authority with billions of dollars in aid money which were used to fund terrorist groups such as Hamas instead of supporting humanitarian causes, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. According to the lawsuit, the State Department ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements attached to US aid to the Palestinian Authority. The White House, it was claimed, did not comply with the regulations and reporting obligations governing presidential waivers which facilitate emergency funding to the Palestinians. Evidence collected by the plaintiffs indicates that...

Federal suit alleges that the US State Dept violated the Anti-Terrorism Act, and abandoned Congressional safeguards, transparency and reporting requirements Tel Aviv, Nov. 27, 2012: A group of 24 Americans living in Israel, including victims of terrorism, filed a lawsuit today against the US government over its funding of Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza. The civil action, filed in the district court of Washington DC, alleges that the US Department of State, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements attached to US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA). In addition, the...

The widely held assumption that terrorists are merely violent fanatics might be accurate for many of the terror organisations' low-level operatives. Nonetheless, a terror group's leader sees subsequent acts of terror as a way to impress their financial patrons and their ensnared populations. On a day-to-day level, terror groups are primarily financial organisations, expending the bulk of their efforts to raise, invest, allocate and transfer money. These violent groups are just like a drug cartel, and it is therefore a misunderstanding to believe that terrorists need funds just to make cheap bombs. The creation of a terrorist is a long...

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted: “I love you, Iron Dome, and I want to have your babies.” Such is the outpouring of love and appreciation for an extraordinary piece of Israeli technology that has saved many lives in southern and central Israel. Nevertheless, despite this appreciation, there has been little analysis of the true strategic significance of Iron Dome. Iron Dome is a game-changer that not only consigns Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s current terror model to the trash can, it completely undermines the military doctrines of all of Israel’s enemies. Before we discuss this fundamental strategic shift in detail,...

Terror groups may no longer be able to do transactions in US dollars after a groundbreaking ruling by the highest state court in New York, the New York Court of Appeals, announced Shurat Hadin, the Israel Law Center, on Wednesday. The ruling was issued on Tuesday in favor of victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks from the 2006 Lebanon War and could be a “game changer” in the global financial war on terror financing. Until now, terror financing could avoid scrutiny in the US by making fund transfers through American correspondent banks. A correspondent bank essentially serves as a middle bank...

Sydney – A new partnership between Australia's national airline Qantas and Emirates Airlines is causing turbulence in the company's relations with the Jewish community, prompted by fears for the safety of Jews and Israelis who purchase seats on the "Flying Kangaroo." The 10-year deal, announced in September, will mean Dubai will now replace Singapore as the major hub and layover spot for customers flying to and from Europe. As part of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai prohibits Israeli passport holders from entering its territory. The UAE and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations.