Supporters of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist movements announced a lawsuit today that names President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell among the defendants. The suit, aimed at Israeli leaders whom it alleges committed "war crimes," is led by New York-based lawyer Stanley Cohen, an attorney for members of the terrorist group Hamas and other radical causes. Militant activist Abdurahman Alamoudi, a founder and longtime leader of the American Muslim Council (AMC) who describes himself as a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, joined Cohen at the news conference announcing the suit and made a statement in Arabic that was not translated into English.

Alamoudi told reporters that the suit "sends a message to the American Muslim community" that they need not be afraid of the U.S. government any more, and that they can now "challenge the system" through the courts. "We've been doing it politically and now we're going to do it legally," he said.

Cohen added that by filing the lawsuit, "We're trying to bring to the Palestinian struggle an avenue in the United States."

Attending the news conference but not openly part of the lawsuit was Sami Al-Arian, the controversial University of South Florida professor who was suspended after it was revealed that he occupies a significant position with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The State Department has designated Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as international terrorist organizations.

Al-Arian is also chairman of the National Coalition for the Protection of Political Freedom (NCPPF), a legal-aid group based in New York for U.S. and foreign terrorist causes (see "Domestic Front in the War on Terror," December 17, 2001). Alamoudi's AMC is a leading member of the NCPPF.

The suit's anonymous plaintiffs focus their complaints on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the leaders of the Israeli military and security services, whom Cohen accuses of "genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, racketeering, acts of murder and torture, bodily harm, arson, kidnapping," and other crimes. They target Bush and Powell for allegedly failing to comply with federal laws requiring the executive branch to certify to Congress if U.S.-made weapons exported abroad were used to commit human rights abuses. In this regard, the suit also targets American arms manufacturers, including Boeing, McConnell-Douglas, and Textron-Bell Helicopter. The plaintiffs also accuse American Jewish and Christian groups, including a Lutheran church, of crimes because they sent aid to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Cohen wants the State Department to serve Sharon and the Israeli security chiefs with their papers so they can be sued in U.S. courts. Some of the anonymous plaintiffs are said to have American citizenship or residency, thus giving grounds for filing the suit in the United States.

The New York lawyer says he isn't worried about defending himself from criticism. His controversial statements include protestations that John Walker Lindh, who recently pleaded guilty for crimes relating to his service as a Taliban combatant, was innocent. Alamoudi, for his part, does show concern: "I'm worried. I know they will come after me." He says he expects "smear campaigns" and legal action from opponents of his cause.

April 14, 2002

Short Talk

Remember Stanley Cohen? Of course you do. He is the Lawyer with the "just woke up hair" that has appeared on virtually every news program criticizing the US on everything from the John Walker Linn case to our treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Well apparently Stanley has taken ambulance chasing to a new level. According to a Newsday article, Stanley was going to the West Bank to take affidavits from Palestinian-American "victims" of Israeli military action. The purpose is to file a lawsuit in the US declaring that Israel's military actions in the West Bank are terrorism. The goal of the lawsuit is to block future military aid to Israel. The story gets better. On Thursday night FOX News interviewed Stanley from somewhere on the West Bank. He was seated next to Ishmal Abu Shanab, a spokesman for Hamas. Evidently, Stanley picked up a few new clients including Hamas. You know, the same Hamas that is on our terrorist list. I guess there is no limit to what a Lawyer can get away with in the Land of the Free.

Note the date.

Cohen has been the Hamas lawyer for quite some time.

U.S. judge rules Hamas leader can be extradited

May 8, 1996
Web posted at: 11 p.m EDT (0300 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal district judge ruled Wednesday that Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook, the jailed political leader of Hamas, can be extradited to Israel for trial.

Marzook, a 45-year-old Palestinian, was detained July 25 in New York as he tried to re-enter the United States.

He had recently been added to a list of suspected terrorists and is wanted in Israel on charges of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy connected to a number of shootings and bombings.

Marzook contended that he was not in the United States when arrested, that there was no evidence of criminal liability against him under New York law, and that the crimes Israel accuses him of were not extraditable offenses.

Marzook also said he should not be extradited because he also fell under the "political offense exception" under international extradition law. He contends he was being targeted because he admitted to being the head of the political wing of Hamas.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy rejected all those arguments, saying that the conspiracy charge leveled against Marzook was grounds enough for his extradition. Duffy said there is sufficient evidence to show Marzook was a member of the conspiracy that led to the crimes.

Marzook's lawyer said the order came sooner than expected, but says he knew his client would lose because Judge Duffy so quickly brushed aside defense arguments about manufactured evidence.

"It's almost as if the judge just said, 'Well, don't bother me. This is all irrelevant.' The minutia of an extradition process apparently was much too boring for the court," said Marzook's attorney, Stanley Cohen.

Among the 10 Israeli charges, Marzook is accused of involvement in the bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv in October 1994. Twenty-two people died in the bombing and 46 were injured.

Cohen has said in the past he would appeal any extradition order. He told CNN Wednesday that he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

Marzook is being held at the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center. Marzook, who has a home, business and family in Virginia, admitted he headed the political wing of Hamas, but denied involvement in bombings or other violence. Even if his appeals to higher courts fail, he may not be seen in Israel for several more years.

Yeah, that's the scumbag.

This is another tear-jerker from the St. Pete's Times about Sami's brother.

INS watching wife of ex-USF teacher

She is required to apply for entry to another country and to check in with the INS monthly.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 18, 2002

TAMPA -- The Immigration and Naturalization Service has imposed supervision requirements on the wife of an imprisoned former University of South Florida instructor while she awaits deportation.

Fedaa Al-Najjar, whose husband, Mazen Al-Najjar, has been linked to terrorism by the federal government but never charged, will have to check in with the INS every month. She also has to show that she is actively working on finding a country that will accept her as a deportee.

David Cole, an attorney for the Al-Najjars, said both of the Al-Najjars have been working as hard as possible to secure a required travel document and to arrange for another country to take them in. Several countries have already turned them down. The United Arab Emirates, to which the United States officially deported Mazen Al-Najjar, has turned down his request for entry three times, Cole said.

Both of them are waiting to hear from Saudi Arabia, he said. Mazen Al-Najjar remains in solitary confinement in a federal prison in Sumter County.

"If you compare the way the INS is treating this family and any other similarly situated immigrant, the comparison is extremely stark," Cole said.

INS spokesman Rodney Germain said he could not talk about the specifics of the Al-Najjars' case. Germain said it was not uncommon for the INS to impose supervision requirements on people awaiting deportation.

Cole and Mazen Al-Najjar's other attorneys have argued that the government has exceeded the six-month maximum that they can hold someone in Al-Najjar's position. The government prosecutors believe that a later law applies in this case that allows them more flexibility when detaining potential deportees who are a threat to national security.

Mazen Al-Najjar entered the United States from Gaza in 1981 and overstayed his student visa. He has been fighting deportation since 1996.

He and his wife are stateless Palestinians. Mazen Al-Najjar has been linked to terrorism by the federal government, although he has never been charged. In 1997, Mazen Al-Najjar challenged an immigration judge's decision to keep him jailed on the basis of classified evidence allegedly linking him to the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

He spent 31/2 years in jail on the basis of the classified information. In December 2000, then-Attorney General Janet Reno released him after a federal judge ruled his constitutional rights were violated by the government's refusal to share the secret evidence with him.

He was detained again in November and has been in prison since.

Cole said it was possible that Saudi Arabia could accept either of the Al-Najjars, but not both. That would force their three young children, who all are U.S. citizens, to decide which parent to remain with.

"This family might be forced to split up," Cole said.

-- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.

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