Court Ruling: U.S. Terror Victims Beat DOJ in Claiming $5M of Hamas Funds
It’s another courtroom victory for the terror victims — this one against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). On April 27th, a district court in Dallas handed down a historic court decision with truly far-reaching implications. The court in Texas has found that the terror victims’ right to collect on their judgments against the terrorist groups, their front-charity organizations, and the outlaw regimes overrides the government’s right to confiscate the terrorists’ assets.
On September 4, 1997, three Hamas suicide bombers detonated themselves in the crowded Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall in downtown Jerusalem. The terror attack left five dead and 181 wounded. One of the murdered and many of those who had been seriously injured were U.S. citizens unlucky enough to be on Ben Yehuda Street when Hamas targeted this popular tourist locale. The families of the victims, represented by attorneys David Strachman and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, filed a lawsuit in 2002 against both the government of Iran and against Hamas in federal court in Washington, D.C. Two years later, after Hamas refused to defend itself in the civil action, a judgment was entered against the Islamic terrorist group on behalf of the families in the amount of $214.5 million.
That same year, the DOJ filed an indictment against a Texas based Palestinian charity, the now infamous HLF. The U.S. alleged that the HLF was the financial arm of Hamas in America. In addition to charging its leaders with material support for terrorism and money laundering, all of the HLF’s bank accounts were frozen by the DOJ. The HLF had bank accounts in New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Illinois, and Washington and the victims’ families immediately filed execution proceedings in all these places to satisfy, in part, their judgment against Hamas.
The DOJ, however, was not going to simply allow the victims’ families to receive their compensation. The government filed a restraining order to block the families from collecting the funds against their judgment. The U.S. attorneys argued that once the DOJ had filed its indictment against the Palestinian charity, the HLF’s assets had been forfeited to the government under the criminal forfeiture statute and the families were out of luck.
However, the victims’ families already had some previous experience opposing government agencies that sought to obstruct them from collecting against suspected terrorist assets. For years the White House and the State Department had been blocking the efforts of terror victims to satisfy their judgments against the frozen assets and diplomatic property of designated terror sponsoring regimes such as Iran, Iraq, and Cuba under the guise that it would harm “national security.” In 2000, Congress began to consider whether terror victims who receive judgments from American courts should then be obstructed by government agencies and/or elected officials in collecting against the terrorists’ funds. In 2002, the Congress passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which provides, in part, that:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, … in every case in which a person has obtained a judgment against a terrorist party… the blocked assets of a terrorist party (including the blocked assets of any agency or instrumentality of that terrorist party) shall be subject to execution or attachment in aid of execution in order to satisfy such judgment ….
As such, the victims’ families countered that the newly legislated TRIA trumps the criminal forfeiture statute (as well as every other “provision of law”) and the terror victims’ rights overrides the DOJ’s.
“The DOJ, however, was not going to simply allow the victims’ families to receive their compensation. The government filed a restraining order to block the families from collecting the funds against their judgment. The U.S. attorneys argued that oThe DOJ, however, was not going to simply allow the victims’ families to receive their compensation. The government filed a restraining order to block the families from collecting the funds against their judgment. The U.S. attorneys argued that once the DOJ had filed its indictment against the Palestinian charity, the HLF’s assets had been forfeited to the government under the criminal forfeiture statute and the families were out of luck.nce the DOJ had filed its indictment against the Palestinian charity, the HLF’s assets had been forfeited to the government under the criminal forfeiture statute and the families were out of luck.”
Is the US Government so broke that it can’t let the families of terror victims have at least some compensation for their loss at the hands of Islamic killers? And then people in Washington wonder why the average American hates the Federal Government so much. Instead of working with the families, the Government decides to make their already shattered lives harder. Good for the families for achieving this victory against the Feds. Shame on them for not working with these families in the first place in obtaining some measure of compensation for their losses, especially those seriously wounded in terrorist attacks and in need of long-term care.
the people who are responsible for this IDIOTIC action against the VICTIMS should all be sent to prison for a minimum of 20 years and one day, those victems should have been given first chance at all terrorist funds.
This is ludicrous. Obama and his minions must be in charge to redistribute this money. How can they keep the sheep under control without this power. They must be able to be in position to reward their friends and punish their enemies if they are to dictate.
If you take note, it was before Obama came to Washington. As with many things gone wrong in this country, this crosses party lines.
These 2 attorneys are VERY well known in Israel for their strong advocacy of Jewish rights, regardless of the obstacles placed before them.They battle left wing,Euro/Arab supported legal forces in Israel.It is their determination, strength of purpose AND moral outrage which makes them VERY feared by their legal opponents(often the leftist AG’s office in Israel too)
And it is this fear which makes them the most formidable legal group in Israel, despite their lack of big funds.
Simply put, Strachman and Darshan-Leitner(and their ENTIRE team) deserve our applause.Take a bow!!They do yeoman’s work….
BTW-if I were in need of a legal team I would consider myself fortunate to have them on my side.No doubt about it.
Adina, Israel – Pajamas Media has the greatest blog writers and instructive articles. Your comments have so much insight. I read this blog 2 – 3 times a day and await your comments which are insurmountably real. Great work!!
TonyRose, thanks, I am heartened by your comment.
Anyone who knows me well will attest that I am allergic to (PC) bullsh-t.It is with this in mind that I address pressing issues of the day,both from a historical perspective and a Conservative/Zionist vantage point.
It is not for nothing that I often butted heads with many leftists in the NYC area, an area I am very well acquainted with, having lived there for many years.It has been a welcome relief to find like-minded Conservatives on sites such as PJM, AT and a few others.
Within my circles in Israel I am also grateful to be in contact with many Conservatives who are (gasp)Zionists too.
Any Christian who isn’t a Zionist, will have some explaining to do!
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php?search=Zion&version1=31&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no&startnumber=126&startnumber=151