Group sues US, Clinton, for 'funding terror'

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A group of 24 Americans living in Israel, including victims of terrorism, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the US government over allegations of funding Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza.

The civil action, filed in the district court of Washington DC, alleges that the US Department of State, including Clinton, has ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements attached to US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act.

In announcing the lawsuit, Shurat HaDin – the Israel Law Center, noted that it had filed the case right as the PA is about to seek non-member status at the UN on Thursday.

In other words, the lawsuit could have embarrassing consequences for the PA, the US government and other supporters of the PA at a critical diplomatic moment.

The US Embassy said that it could not provide an official response by press time.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the White House has not been complying with the regulations and reporting obligations governing presidential waivers which facilitate emergency funding to the Palestinians.

As a result of the alleged non-compliance, the lawsuit contends that US funds have been flowing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to terror groups like Hamas and others.

The lawsuit claims that since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the United States State Department, via USAID, has given over $4 billion to Palestinians.

However, Shurat Hadin could not provide clear figures about how much of those amounts have found their way into the hands of terrorists, focusing instead on the alleged failed supervision and transparency.

Shurat Hadin maintained that a more thorough investigation of the PA budget would reveal concrete funding given by the PA to the Gaza police, considered by many to part of Hamas' armed wing.

Shuran Hadin argues that the State Department should be demanding these amounts from the PA and then providing the figures to Congress for oversight.

According to Shurat Hadin, the State Department is supposed to be providing very specific oversight of the PA budget, spending and bank accounts as "an international mechanism" to ensure that there is transparency.

Each time the president utilizes a waiver and directly funds the PA because Congress does not want to appropriate funds, contended Shurat Hadin, the State Department is supposed to report to Congress that it knows where the PA funds are going and that they are not being used for terrorism.

According to the lawsuit, Americans living in proximity to these Palestinian terror groups are in the class of individuals that Congress sought to protect through the safeguards and regulations that the White House, State Department and USAID are allegedly disregarding.

The suit asks the federal court to review the conduct of the State Department and the safeguards on funds being distributed by USAID in its programs to the PA and to the United Nations Refugee Worker's Administration (UNRWA).

It also seeks an injunction to suspend future American aid to the PA and UNRWA until all congressionally legislated regulations and reporting requirements are fully complied with.

Group sues US, Clinton, for 'funding ter... JPost - International

Full Text of S. 2370 (109th): Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 - GovTrack.us