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HILARY LEILA KRIEGER JERUSALEM POST
In a landmark decision, a U.S. federal judge foimd two U.S.-based Islamic charitable organizations and an individual fimd-raiser liable for the 1996 killing of an American in Israel by Hamas terrorists.
The decision was handed down Nov. 10. The ruling is the first to hold American organizations responsible for damages for terrorist acts committed overseas and opens a new window for the use of civil suits to stop the flow of funds to terrorist organizations, according to lawyers representing the plaintiffs, the parents of David Boim.
Boim, a 17-year-old yeshivah student, was fatally shot while waiting at a Beit El bus stop in May 1996 in an attack claimed by Hamas. He was originally from New York and immigrated to Israel with his parents, Stanley and Joyce, in 1985.
The case was brou^t in Chicago because that's where the Islamic Association for Palestine (LAP), charged with securing ftmds for Hamas, is based, and it is the home of the one individual the suit names as a Hamas fimd-raiser, Mohammed Salah.
In addition to finding LAP and Salah liable, the court also ruled against the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation (HLF) for funnelling money to Hamas.
The Boims are expected to seek more than $15 million in damages, which vn\l be adjudicated after a Dec. 1 trial. Lawyers for the defendants have pron^scd to appeal the decision after the trial's conclusion.
In his 107-page opinion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys said the defendants clearly knew that the charitable funds they sent to Palestinian groups in the West Bank were headed to
Hamas and that Hamas was involved in terrorism, accepting evidence provided by the plaintifls.
He also stressed that the Boims didn't have to prove that the defendants had direct knowledge of the attack on their son to be found liable of "aiding and abetting" attacks. Keys granted the motions for summary judgment, pnMjmpting a fUl trial, because he felt the evidence was so overwhelming that any jury would find for the Boims.
In the case of Salah, for instance, he wrote, "A reasonable jury could reach but one conclusion: Mr. Salah knew about Hamas' ille^ activities, he wantr ed those activities to succeed and he engaged in nimierous acts to help ensure that they did."
The suit was brought based on a 1990 anti-terrorism law allowing American citizens to sue for damages sustained in terror attacks abroad.
Brendan Shiller, an LAP lawyer, denied that his clients had supported Hamas or donated money to the group. He claimed there was only disputed evidence that the HLF had given money to Hamas or that LAP had given money to HLF in the first place. He called the decision "bad lav/* and compared the legal standard set to a scenario in which a Catholic church that donated space to thejSinn Fein for a lecture by someone with Irish Republican Army links could be held liable for all IRA miu-ders.
The liability of a fourth defendant, the Koranic Literacy Institute, vrill be assessed at the December trial. Salah, indicted in Chicago this August on criminal charges of financing terrorism, also faces further judicial action. HLPs ftmds were fix)zen following the Sept. 11 attacks. □
ANTI-HATE from page 1
Tupper, because the students there have gone soft - that is, they're not open to participating in such activities.
"I can't think of a better thing to hear about our schools than that the kids are too soft," Bouey said.
The CJC brief offers to assist the board with specific areas, including encoiuraging a cross-cur-ricular approach to anti-racism and multicultiuralism; creating response strategies for hate incidents; training administrators and teachers to deal effectively with multiculturalism and to overcome hate; and increasing the inclusiveness of curricula.
"We believe that the most help-
ful area in which Canadian Jewish Congress can be involved in partnerships with the Vancouver school board is in the arena of professional development," the brief states. "We know that many teachers still find it difficult to recognize and respond to manifestations of hate and harassment. They can use additional help in developing awareness around these issues and learning strategies for dealing with them."
Recent federal statistics indicate the Jewish community is the community most frequently affected by hate and bias crimes. □
Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.