Arab Bank et/v. Hamas
A class action case study
“Whatever is bravely, is ever honorably, done, at a time when justice is dead.” Montaigne
Court/legal drama films are very popular genres in Hollywood and usually have an uplifting message of how a small person (or group of persons) can overtake a big and evil corporation, a David v. Goliath kind of flick. These movies always end on a positive note and leave the audience optimistic about a brighter and fairer future.
Famous and personal favourite movies include: Philadelphia, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Cousin Vinny (comedy), Erin Brokovich, Trial of the Chicago 7, Flash of Genius, Inherit the Wind, Runaway Jury, and more recently The Burial.
In Jordan we had a less glamorous case with less of a Hollywood style of production court case that lasted more than 14 years, involved millions of dollars in legal fees (and settlements), nearly killed a big banking institution, had a witness who sounded a bit like Marlon Brando, but thankfully (and hopefully) ended on a good note… kind of.
I am talking about Arab Bank and how it was sued in the United States of America for the allegation that ‘it funded Hamas’s terror attacks on American/Israelis between 1995 and 2004’.
Background
For those who didn’t follow the story, here is a very short summary but I really hope one day someone very capable could write a nice book (that can later be turned into a Jollywood1 film) of the accounts:
(N.B.: Arab Bank has a ‘branch’ in New York that acts as a correspondent bank. Correspondent banks act as an intermediary between different banks in different countries to facilitate international transactions and transfers.)
-In 2004, a group of plaintiffs (initially 6,500 of them) filed a lawsuit in New York against the Arab Bank on the basis that the bank wired funds to Hamas members who carried out attacks against said victims.
-The Arab Bank nearly lost access to the Federal Reserve system (and access to US dollars) and nearly got sanctioned just as Iraqi banks are currently getting banned. If the ban had gone through, it could’ve crippled the biggest bank in Jordan and one of the largest and oldest in the Middle East.
-Thankfully, intervention and lobbying from the part of the Jordanian embassy in Washington managed to waive the ban and turn it into a fine2 (which was the correct thing to do, innocent until proven guilty).
-After many backs and forths over the years, appeals, and lots of legal jargon that I don’t understand, the case finally ended with 2 important decisions in 2018:
i. Decision of 9th of February 2018: settlement of Arab Bank and plaintiffs with American nationalities.
ii. Decision of 24th of April 2018: non-American plaintiffs (6000 of them) can’t ask for compensation via the Tort Act.
2018 was an important year for Arab Bank as it finally got rid of this back-breaking case.
Is it over? Well, some are still trying to pursue compensation in any way possible3 (and I don’t know why the bank recently announced in its latest annual report that there are lawsuits totalling 355 million against them, any link to the above?)
I personally hope the case is closed and finalised.
Foreground
So why am I bringing back such bad memories back? I hope that a certain people are inspired by this court case to see what measures they can pursue legally.
What I really hope is that all victims of the Gaza genocide, relatives of victims, representatives of families that were completely wiped out of the register, to pursue legal action in any jurisdiction possible. I am not just talking of compensation for the dead, but for the wounded, the hurt, and for any physical asset destroyed. Palestinians in Palestine, in the United States of America4, in Europe, should be ‘proactive in asserting their legal rights and be diligent in seeking legal recourse’ and start filing as many lawsuits as possible.
Palestinians should start for example by suing a bank that transferred funds to 1 IDF soldier that broadcasted their warcrimes on social media. Stop any Israeli bank from operating or corresponding with American or European banks. Maybe it will be harder in the US, but banks can get access to $ dollars via London too. Victims should throw all possible legal ‘stones’ and see what breaks. Palestinians should pursue non-bank entities too: Did company A send happy meals to power the IDF soldiers? Sue them. Did company B send geolocation data and messaging correspondence to the IDF? Sue them. Did company C supply a bomb that destroyed your treasured pots that had “makdous” in them? Sue them.
It’s fine if some of the victims want to forgive and leave justice in the hands of God, but the majority (and the deceased) had5 and still have every right to claim for compensation and no one should leave the option off the table.
Serial litigation and claiming for compensation has been part of the Zionist game for a long time and Palestinians should learn to use it against them. If you read the “Trump Peace Plan” from 5 years ago, an important and disastrous part of the deal was to ‘cancel out’ compensation from both sides.
Palestinians should not give up the fight to seek justice in pursuing legal remedies. They shouldn’t wait for divine intervention or the Arabs to join the fight. They should just start claiming their rights the old fashioned way and the boring way: via the courts. Maybe this way, at the end, they will get their Hollywood ending.
UN Resolution 194: https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194
Nice Idea