Yesterday, Judge Brian M. Cogan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn set a schedule to complete discovery and begin a trial on May 18, 2015 to determine the amount of damages resulting from Arab Bank, PLC's role in financing three Hamas attacks that killed and injured U.S. citizens.
The second trial will focus solely on each terrorist attack and the impact of those attacks on those families of U.S. citizens injured or killed as a result of Arab Bank's financing of terrorist actions. The jury will determine damages for the March 2002 suicide bombing attack at Café Moment in Jerusalem; the March 2003 suicide bombing attack on Bus No. 37 in Haifa; and the June 2003 shooting attack on Route 60.
"This next phase marks the final chapter in our clients' pursuit of justice. Now it's time for a jury to consider the consequences of Arab Bank's decision to knowingly finance Hamas. Our clients have patiently waited for more than a decade to describe what Hamas and Arab Bank have done to their families," stated Motley Rice LLC anti-terrorism and human rights attorney Michael Elsner, who represents plaintiffs in the case.
This follows the Sept. 22, 2014, verdict by a Brooklyn, N.Y., jury that found Jordan-based Arab Bank, PLC liable for financing terrorist activity, including funneling financial support to top Hamas leaders and to the families of suicide bombers. The jury unanimously agreed with plaintiffs' claims that Arab Bank knowingly and systematically provided financial support to the leadership of Hamas and to the families of terrorist operatives including suicide bombers. This case, Linde et al. v. Arab Bank, PLC, marked the first time that a financial institution has been brought to trial under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and has implications for how financial institutions as well as other corporations will conduct business in the future, reinforcing a zero tolerance policy for fostering terrorist activity.
The jury that determined liability, but did not hear plaintiffs' stories, only heard facts regarding the Bank's responsibility for financing Hamas, including how Arab Bank systematically transferred funds to families of suicide bombers.
