Monday, September 08, 2008

Why Is A Former Lawyer For Pollard Defending Palestinian Terrorists?

Check out My Right Word, who made the connection.

The New York Times has only part of the story:

When a Palestinian gunman burst into a bat mitzvah celebration in northern Israel in 2002, killing 6 people and wounding more than 30, the attack sparked anger and despair, and military retaliation by Israel. It also prompted a lawsuit in New York, which has taken an unusual turn.

The family of the sole American, Aharon Ellis, killed in the attack, charged the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority with orchestrating the shooting that killed him. The suit was brought under a law that allows American victims of international terrorism to sue for triple damages in federal court.

A federal judge awarded the family a default judgment of $192.7 million in damages after the P.L.O. and the Palestinian Authority refused to defend the suit on the merits.

But now the Palestinians, holding themselves out as a partner in the Middle East peace process, have changed lawyers, and asked the judge for a second chance. The judge, Victor Marrero of Federal District Court in Manhattan, has agreed to set aside the judgment and give them that chance.

But there’s a catch. He is requiring the Palestinians to post a bond of $192.7 million so that if they lose again, the damages would be paid.

The new defense lawyers have proposed a bond of $15 million, saying that their clients cannot afford $192.7 million, which they said was nearly 10 percent of the annual budget of the entire Palestinian Authority. The defendants “are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy,” they said in court papers.

...Richard A. Hibey, a lawyer for the Palestinian defendants, has told the court that the documents will show how “this utterly insolvent, destitute operation runs.”

My Right Word notes that Hibey was Jonathan Pollard's original attorney--whose mistakes on his clients behalf are the reason Pollard is still in prison.

Read the details.

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1 comment:

YMedad said...

Thanks for noting my memory recall.