OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:52 AM – Tuesday, July 2, 2024
The Anti-Defamation League has officially filed a federal lawsuit against North Korea, Iran, and Syria on the grounds that they gave material support to Hamas in connection with the terrorist attack on October 7th.
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On behalf of over 125 plaintiffs—U.S. citizens who were harmed in the attack or whose family members were killed—the ADL and Crowell & Moring LLP filed the complaint on Monday.
“There is more than ample precedent for this case: U.S. courts have repeatedly held Iran, Syria, and North Korea responsible for material support of terrorist attacks that harmed U.S. and dual U.S.-Israeli citizens,” said James Pasch, the ADL’s lead counsel on the case. “There is also clear evidence that these state sponsors of terrorism provided material support to Hamas terrorists that enabled the terrorists to commit the atrocities on October 7.”
In the course of the terrorist operation, Hamas killed at least 1,200 individuals and abducted another 250. Those slain, badly injured, and kidnapped included several Americans in addition to Israelis.
By using the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s Terrorism Exception, the plaintiffs hope to impose liability on the nations. However, these nations are unlikely to abide by the rulings rendered against them, even in the event that the lawsuits are successful.
The defendants are requesting punitive damages of at least $3 billion and compensatory damages of at least $1 billion.
The plaintiffs intend to employ the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, established by Congress in 2015 to provide compensation to individuals who have obtained verdicts against state sponsors of terrorism, in the event that the defendants—in this case, Iran, Syria, and North Korea—are found accountable.
“Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of antisemitism and terror—along with Syria and North Korea, they must be held responsible for their roles in the largest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust. We are doing everything possible to hold Hamas terrorists and those who support them accountable, including putting all of ADL’s weight behind this effort,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO and national director.
The U.S. Embassy bombings in Beirut in 1983 and 1984, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998, and the 1989 bombing of UTA Flight 772 are just a few of the terrorism cases that Crowell & Moring has successfully filed and won.
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