The Wakf Indicted (UPDATED)

Seems like taking legal action to stand up for the rights of Jews in Israel is becoming popular--this from Arlene Kushner's web site:

Acting as a group, represented by Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, 150 Israeli citizens, have initiated an unprecedented criminal prosecution of the Wakf leaders in Jerusalem. Filed today in Jerusalem District Court by means of a seldom utilized section of the criminal code, the indictment charges that the Wakf has engaged in the deliberate destruction of ancient Jewish relics on the Temple Mount.

The Wakf has brought in heavy equipment for purposes of "renovations" on the Mount, and Israeli archeologists have discovered trashed Jewish artifacts in the earth that was discarded. (I recently wrote about this.)

If convicted, the Wakf officials would serve years in prison.

IMRA has fuller details.

Apparently this kind of private lawsuit is the first of its kind in Israel. It comes at the same time as a petition signed by MK's to preserve the Jewish right to Hebron.

UPDATE: The idea behind the suit against the Wakf may have come from this:

ISRAELI TOUR GUIDES SUE PA AND PLO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 15, 2003

Forty two members of the Israeli Tour Guides' Association will file
a civil action against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Jerusalem District
Court this morning. The law suit alleges that since the outbreak of
the current Intifada in September 2000, the PA and the PLO have
instituted an official policy of encouraging and providing material
resources for terror attacks against Israeli civilians. As a result
of the security crisis, tourists stopped visiting Israel and the
once thriving tourism industry has lost more than 50% of its annual
revenues.

The law suit is being represented by Shurat HaDin Director Nitsana
Darshan-Leitner.

The forty two plaintiffs are tour guides, representing cities from
all across Israel, who were barely able to earn 20% of their yearly
income as a result of the decline in tourism. In the wake of the
current Intifada, tour operators and organizations that normally
travel to Israel began to cancel their planned visits. The court
papers contend that the PA and PLO are liable for the atmosphere of
fear which scared off potential tourists and demand that they
compensate the Israeli tour guides for their lost income.

In the wake of the Palestinian terrorist campaign, most foreign
nations issued traveler advisories warning their citizens not to
visit Israel. Even the few tourists who decided to visit the Jewish
State, were deterred by the continuous terror attacks from traveling
to many parts of the country. Thus, the tour guides found that
there was no longer any market for their services.

The civil action is the first of its kind being brought by Israeli
workers whose economic welfare has been ruined by the suicide
bombings and shootings being perpetrated by the Palestinian
leadership.

"For the past thirty three months the Palestinian Authority has
engaged in an official campaign to kill and maim Israeli civilians
and destroy our economy through its violence," stated
Darshan-Leitner, "The tour guides' law suit will prove that the
Palestinian leadership intentionally targeted our tourism industry
and perpetrated terror attacks with the goal of intimidating
foreign travelers from visiting."

Both suits are being brought by Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.
Both are being called "the first of its kind"- the current one is a private lawsuit; the previous one was a civil lawsuit.

Is there a difference?

More importantly--what are the chances of the Wakf lawsuit being more successful than the previous one?

Technorati Tag: Israel and Shurat HaDin and Wakf.