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By: JNS
The Anti-Defamation League, together with Washington, D.C.-based law firm Crowell & Moring LLP, filed suit on Monday in U.S. federal court against Iran, Syria and North Korea on behalf of American victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, states that the three countries provided material support—including military, tactical and financial—to Hamas that enabled it to commit atrocities in Israel on Oct. 7.
This lawsuit seeks to hold these nations accountable for their alleged support of the Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and several other countries.
On October 7, Hamas launched a coordinated attack that resulted in the brutal massacre of 1200 civilians, causing widespread devastation and triggering international outrage. The ADL is a prominent organization dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and advocating for civil rights.
The lawsuit alleges that Iran, Syria, and North Korea have provided substantial support to Hamas, facilitating its ability to carry out violent attacks against civilians. Iran is accused of providing financial assistance, military training, and weaponry to Hamas, bolstering its operational capabilities. Syria is alleged to have offered safe haven and logistical support, while North Korea is accused of supplying arms and technological expertise.
“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,” said ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt.
He added that, “We are seeking justice for the victims of the October 7 massacre. By holding these state sponsors accountable, we aim to disrupt the networks that allow terrorism to flourish and ensure that those responsible for these heinous acts are brought to justice.”
The lawsuit leverages the legal framework provided by the Anti-Terrorism Act, which allows American victims of terrorism to sue foreign states and entities that provide material support to terrorist organizations.
The plaintiffs are requesting compensatory damages against the defendants of no less than $1 billion and punitive damages no less than $3 billion.
Compensation would be drawn from the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, a fund Congress created in 2015 to allow Americans “who were injured in acts of international state-sponsored terrorism” to gain some measure of relief.
The case will “set the record straight” about the truth of the attack given the wave of “10/7 denialism” that followed it, according to the ADL.
More than 125 U.S. victims and their family members will be represented.
Crowell & Moring has decades of experience in litigating and winning terrorism cases, including in connection with the bombing of UTA flight 772 in 1989, the bombings of the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983 and 1984 and the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi in 1998.
Crowell & Moring’s Terrorism Litigation Team is led by Aryeh Portnoy and John Murino.
“It is imperative to combat terrorism using whatever tools are available,” said Portnoy. “One of those tools is the courts, and another is the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund. We are committed to fighting for the victims and families so that they are never forgotten, and so that they may find some measure of justice for the horrors they have endured.”
(JNS.org)
