Posted on 09/28/2006 12:58:54 AM PDT by vimto
NEW YORK - A lawsuit brought by victims and families of suicide bombings in Israel seeking damages from Royal Bank of Scotland Plc's NatWest claiming the unit knowingly provided services to a charity linked to Hamas can proceed, a U.S. federal judge ruled on Wednesday.
The suit, filed in federal court in Brooklyn in January, made claims on behalf of 15 families of Americans wounded in attacks. It said NatWest enabled
U.K. charity Interpal to raise funds on its Web site knowing the U.S. government identified the charity as a fund raiser for Hamas, violating U.S. anti-terrorism laws. Interpal was named a Specially-designated Global Terrorist in August 2003 by U.S. authorities, alleging it supports Hamas's activities.
RBS and Interpal, also known as the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, have rejected the claims and in response the bank filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
But U.S. District Judge Charles Sifton ruled the bank's arguments, including that some transactions in question occurred too long before any attack occurred, were not strong enough to dismiss the case.
"Because each attack was preceded by at least one relevant transaction by NatWest, plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that each attack was proximately caused by NatWest," the judge wrote.
Plaintiffs in the case include relatives of victims of a suicide bomber on a bus in Jerusalem on August 19, 2003. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 20 people.
"The court's decision again affirms the civil remedies available to American victims of terrorism," said Gary Osen, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, adding the judge said the U.S. government did not distinguish between a "terrorist wing" of Hamas and any charitable wing.
A lawyer for NatWest was not immediately available for comment. When the lawsuit was filed, the bank said the U.K. Charity Commission had investigated Interpal and found no wrongdoing in connection with Hamas.
Terrorist Supporters cannot be tolerated.
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Yes but not too much it's my bank!!!!!
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