| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Lawfare works for our side, too: Israeli lawyer closes bank spigot |
| 2011-02-27 |
| Original title: How to bankrupt terrorism Israeli lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner tells Greg Callaghan how she and her colleagues are hitting terrorist organisations where it hurts. NITSANA Darshan-Leitner has spent the past decade delivering a highly effective counterpunch to terrorist organisations across the globe by using her own brand of "lawfare". First, she and her group of lawyers at the Israel Law Centre in Tel Aviv track down the terrorists' financial pipelines, then they set about suing the banks, institutions and charitable fronts used to facilitate the flow of funds. In doing so, the attorney has taken on some of the world's biggest banks -- the Arab Bank, the Bank of China, and American Express -- and to date has recovered a whopping $120 million for the victims of terrorist attacks. Darshan-Leitner has also won judgments worth more than $1 billion against groups including Hamas and Hezbollah. While the terrorists themselves do not pay up, Darshan-Leitner and her team have been able to close the spigot on many of their supply lines and reduce the risk of attacks on Israel by as much as 60%, according to Israeli intelligence. There is real potential, she believes, for the victims of the two Bali bombings to launch civil actions against the terrorists and their backers. It is her mantra that "money is the oxygen of terrorism and if we can stop the flow of money, we can reduce terrorism". On a recent tour in Australia, where she met senior politicians, Darshan-Leitner explained how she does it. Who are the main terrorist groups and states bankrolling terrorist attacks? Hamas. PLO. Islamic Jihad. Hezbollah. And state regimes that support terror such as Iran, Syria, North Korea. Of course, it's not the terrorists who you are forcing to pay up, but the banks handling their money. Terrorist organisations don't come to court. No, we're going after bank accounts, shares, assets that are in the hands of third parties, and even grabbing houses. In cases against the banks, we've been very successful in sending a shockwave through the international financial systems. We have sent the message that if you provide financial services to terror groups or to the front charities that they hide behind, you could incur massive financial liability from the victims' cases. You have taken two British banks, Lloyds and Barclays, to court, forcing them to shut down accounts of Islamic charities providing money to the families of suicide bombers. Some would argue that cutting off financial aid to these families is simple guilt by association, that you're punishing innocent people. They are not being punished. But you must stop the flow of money going to any connection to a terrorist organisation. If you give money to the family of a suicide bomber you actually encourage the next suicide bomber to carry out an attack because he knows his family will be supported from now until the end. But surely a terrorist organisation can simply bank its money through an Islamic financial institution and shift money around? Yes, a terrorist group can still use an Islamic bank. The problem is where the money goes once it leaves the Islamic bank. You need an international bank to facilitate the money transaction. For instance, if a Palestinian bank wants to trade in euros or shekel you need a correspondent bank in Israel or Europe. No bank would be willing to do that. And the amount of money Hamas can smuggle through tunnels in suitcases is about a tenth of what can be wired through a bank. You have just launched a $5 million class action against former president Jimmy Carter and publishing company Simon & Schuster, alleging that his 2006 book, Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid, has an anti-Israel agenda. What do you find most objectionable about the book? The problem with the book is not that it was anti-Israel; Carter is perfectly entitled to express his opinion. The cause of action arose because Carter and his publisher have been marketing the book as accurate and truthful, when in fact the book is replete with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, mistakes and lies. We sued under the consumer protection laws as it's a fraud on the reading public. Some would see this as a clear-cut case of you trying to quash free speech. We have repeatedly said that Carter is entirely free to express his opinion. Our suit is based upon the misrepresentations that Carter and his publisher have made to the public. They continue to insist the book is truthful and we claim it's a fraudulent misrepresentation on the public. It has nothing to do with free speech. It has to do with false advertising and fraudulent commercial speech. |
| Posted by: |
| #4 Lucky for him stupidity isn't illegal. |
| Posted by: gorb 2011-02-27 22:33 |
| #3 She sued Carter and Publisher for fraud in his book? That is just perfect. |
| Posted by: Charles 2011-02-27 21:28 |
| #2 Good for her. The Israelis are experienced at tracking down people such as Nazi, terrorists and money. Hamas. PLO. Islamic Jihad. Hezbollah. And state regimes that support terror such as Iran, Syria, North Korea. There is money funneled by sympathetic individuals from a number of Western countries also. I noticed the Saudis were not on this list. We also have many on the liberal left in the U.S. who are soft on and supportive of the islamists. The islamists are viewed as poor victims of the U.S. rather than the terrorists they are. Of course they also tend to ignore reality [and suffer from mental derangements]; somehow they think 911 was our fault and they choose to blame the victim. For example, Obama funder Jodie Evans took part in a ‘Hamas-Aid’ Event Cairo. Obama pals Ayers and Dohrn were also in Cairo with Code Pink to support the Palestinians in 2009. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-02-27 10:00 |
| #1 This woman is both a genius and a hero. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2011-02-27 01:13 |