Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — A U.S. court has ruled against Iran and Syria in a
lawsuit brought by the families of victims of a bombing in Israel in 2006.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth awarded $323 million to the families
of 11 Americans and Israelis killed in a 2006 bombing in Tel Aviv. The
bombing was attributed to Islamic Jihad, sponsored by Iran and supported by
Syria.

“Barbaric acts like the April 17, 2006 suicide bombing have no place in civilized society and present a moral depravity that knows no bounds,” Lamberth said on May 14.

The federal judge rejected a defense motion to dismiss the case on
grounds of sovereign immunity. Lamberth said countries that employ what he termed terrorism cannot claim immunity from prosecution.

“When a state chooses to uses terror as a policy tool — as Iran and
Syria continue to do — that state forfeits its sovereign immunity and
deserves unadorned condemnation,” Lamberth said.

U.S. courts have ruled against Iran for its role in bombings in Israel
and the West Bank. But the State Department has stopped the families of American victims from seizing Iranian assets to pay for the judgements.

This marked the first time that a U.S. court ruled against Syria, which
like Iran appears on the State Department list of terrorist sponsors. During
the hearing, the plaintiffs, represented by the Israel Law Center, said
Syria allowed the Iranian-financed Jihad to train for attacks against
Israel.

“For the first time an American court is holding the government of Syria
accountable for its decades-long support of terrorism,” Israel Law Center
director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said.

  Iran, Islamic Jihad, Judge awards families of terror victims $323 million in suit against Syria, Judge Royce Lamberth