Posted on 04/28/2025 3:00:22 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has decided that the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is not immune from being sued, reversing the U.S. government’s position that the organization was protected from civil liability.
The Justice Department revealed its new stance in a letter it filed in federal court in New York on Thursday as part of a lawsuit that aims to hold the agency, known as UNRWA, accountable for the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on Israel by Hamas. The change in position underscores the hardened perspective toward the agency under the Trump administration following allegations by Israel that some of the agency staff was involved in the Hamas rampage.
The lawsuit, filed by families of some of the victims of the massacre, alleges that UNRWA had aided Hamas by, among other things, permitting weapons storage and deployment centers in its schools and medical clinics and by employing Hamas members. Lawyers for UNRWA have called the lawsuit “absurd” and have said in court filings that the agency was immune from liability as a “subsidiary organ” of the United Nations.
The Biden administration stance protected the agency
The position undoes the stance taken by the Biden administration, which said in a filing last July that UNRWA enjoyed “absolute immunity from suit” and that the case should therefore be dismissed.
In a statement Friday, UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said the Justice Department filing reversed the “longstanding recognition that UNRWA is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and an integral part of the United Nations, entitled to immunity from legal process.” She said the agency would continue to make its case before the court and “will consider whether any other action is appropriate with respect to the letter.”
The Justice Department acknowledged in its 10-page letter that though its...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
‘In a reverse of stance, US says UN Palestinian refugee agency isn’t immune from lawsuits’
Thanks for the good news!
Well, all the victims/their families of Oct 7 attack and massacre should start filing those multi-million dollar lawsuits.
HOORAY US Justice Department! Giving aid and comfort to an enemy of civilization is TREASON to its innocent victims.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.