Posted on 07/17/2002 11:13:49 PM PDT by ThePythonicCow
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.
Oh, he will. Somehow. This lays the groundwork for HIS upcoming suit against Bush. He is out looking for the issue now.
Let the fun begin.
They have been doing it with airplanes loaded with innocent people too...JFK
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