Victims of Hezbollah Terrorist Rocket Attacks File Lawsuit Against Al-Jazeera TV in New York Federal Court

/PRNewswire/ -- On the fourth anniversary of start of the Lebanese-Israeli War, 91 American, Israeli and Canadian victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks have filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network. The suit, Kaplan et al. v. Al-Jazeera (10 cv 5298), filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, seeks $1.2 billion in compensatory damages plus punitive damages.

The plaintiffs, whose family members were killed or who were themselves injured by rockets fired at Israel by Hezbollah between July 12 and August 14, 2006, allege that Al-Jazeera intentionally provided real-time coverage of the locations of missile strikes inside Israel in violation of Israeli security regulations, thereby enabling Hezbollah to aim its missiles more accurately.

Al-Jazeera camera crews in Israel during the war were repeatedly detained by the Israeli police for broadcasting real-time information regarding the location of missile strikes, which Hezbollah utilized to more accurately aim their missiles at civilian population centers.

Al-Jazeera is widely acknowledged to have an extreme anti-American and anti-Israel political agenda. For example, in September 2001, U.S. officials filed a diplomatic complaint against Al Jazeera, accusing it of having an anti-American slant and objecting to Al Jazeera's description of Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs." In 2002, Professor Khalid al Dakheel of King Saud University stated that: "Al-Jazeera is the mouthpiece of the Arabs. Their coverage is anti-Israelis. Their coverage is anti-Americans." In 2006, Lt. Col. Todd Vician, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense stated: "Anyone, even an American living in the Middle East watching a network like Al Jazeera day after day after day, would begin to believe that America was bad just based on the biased, one-sided coverage." And according to Amira Oron of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, during the 2006 war in Lebanon, "Al-Jazeera was no different from [Hezbollah's own station] Al-Manar ... It's an Arab station and its intent is to promote the Arab cause."

The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Robert J. Tolchin Esq. of Brooklyn, New York's Berkman Law Office, LLC; noted Israeli human rights lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq.; and the firm of Heideman, Nudelman & Kalik of Washington, D.C.

Attorney Darshan-Leitner stated that: "Al-Jazeera allowed itself to become a crucial component of the Hezbollah missile offensive. The intent was to assist Hezbollah in targeting and killing civilians. Without the assistance of Al-Jazeera's on-the-ground spotters, Hezbollah would have been unable to accurately aim its missiles into Israeli cities. Al-Jazeera, which has offices in New York, aided and abetted Hezbollah terrorism and shares responsibility for the injuries suffered by the victims of these attacks."

Attorney Tolchin observed that "By giving Hezbollah real-time targeting feedback, effectively helping the terrorists to improve the aim of its missiles, Al-Jazeera crossed the line between reporting the news and being part of the news."

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New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to Hizballah TV Station

Lev L. Dassin, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Saleh Elahwal, 55, of Matawan, New Jersey, pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to providing material support to Hizballah, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. According to the count (Count Two) of the Superseding Indictment to which Elahwal pleaded guilty, and statements made during his guilty plea proceeding before United States District Judge Richard M. Berman:

Hizballah ("Party of God") is a Lebanon-based organization whose stated mission is the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic state and the destruction of the State of Israel. Hizballah regards the United States as its enemy in this struggle and has pursued its mission through, among other things, attacks on civilian targets. Hizballah operates a television station in Lebanon known as Al Manar ("the beacon") to cultivate support, including raising funds and recruiting volunteers for attacks. Hizballah was designated on October 8, 1997, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. On October 31, 2001, Hizballah was further designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and Al Manar itself was so designated on March 23, 2006.

In pleading guilty, Elahwal admitted that between approximately September 2005 and August 2006, he knowingly provided satellite transmission services to Al Manar, for which he was paid thousands of dollars. Elahwal admitted that he knew that Al Manar was operated by Hizballah and that Hizballah had engaged in acts of terrorism as defined by federal law.

Elahwal pleaded guilty to a charge of providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of fifteen years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for February 19, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge BERMAN in Manhattan federal court.

On December 23, 2008, Elahwal’s co-defendant, Javed Iqbal, also pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hizballah. His sentencing is scheduled for March 24, 2009, at 12:45 p.m. before Judge Berman.

Mr. Dassin praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Joint Terrorism Task Force in conducting the investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Eric Snyder and David S. Leibowitz are in charge of the prosecution.

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