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Friday, August 22, 2008

Terror vicitms sue the Bank of China

WASHINGTON — Victims of terror attacks have filed suit against a Chinese bank accused of transferring millions of dollars to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

More than 100 victims of Hamas and Jihad attacks have filed civil action against Bank of China, the nation's largest financial institution, Middle East Newsline reported. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks both compensatory and punitive damages from BOC.

"BOC knowingly assisted Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to carry out terrorist attacks with the full approval of the Chinese government, and rejected requests by the Israeli government to cease and desist," Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an attorney for the Israeli plaintiffs, said.

The suit asserted that BOC began conducting wire transfers for Hamas and Jihad in 2003. The plaintiffs said Hamas and Jihad leaders would initiate financial transfers from Iran and Syria through BOC branches in the United States.

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The Hamas and Jihad funds were said to have been sent from the United States to a BOC account in China operated by an unidentified senior Palestinian operative. The suit, Zahavi vs. Bank of China, said the money was relayed to Hamas and Jihad in the Gaza Strip and West Bank for attacks on Israel.

"BOC even had the chutzpah [impudence] to make these funds transfers through its U.S. branches right under the nose of the U.S. Justice Department, despite the fact that Hamas and the PIJ are designated terrorist organizations and that such wire transfers are a crime under American law," Ms. Darshan-Leitner said.

In April 2005, the suit said, Israeli security officials met their Chinese counterparts to discuss BOC transfers to Hamas and Jihad. The suit said despite the Israeli requests, Beijing continued to approve BOC financial services to the Palestinian insurgency groups.

A key plaintiff was identified as the family of Afik Zahavi, a four-year-old killed in a Hamas missile attack on the Israeli city of Sderot in 2004. Two other plaintiffs were identified as the families of Emi Elmaliah, and Michael Saadon, killed in a Jihad suicide bombing in Eilat in 2007.

"We expect BOC to now pay very heavily for its support for terrorism," Ms. Darshan-Leitner said.



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