Department of State moves to strike American citizens’ suit challenging aid to the Palestinians
The United States Department of State has filed a motion seeking to dismiss the claims of 24 American citizens who sued the government over what they contend is its refusal to obey congressional restrictions concerning the funding the US provides to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The plaintiffs, who all live in Israel,allege that Department of State, including former Secretary Hillary Clinton, had ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements attached to US aid to the PA. In addition, the plaintiffs claim that the White House has not been complying with the regulations and reporting obligations governing presidential waivers which facilitate emergency funding to the Palestinians. As a result of this non-compliance, US funds have been flowing to terror groups like Hamas, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestine Liberation Front. The terror financing puts the plaintiffs in danger of being killed in terror attacks.
Rather than defend the government’s foreign aid policy on its merits and provide proof that it truly knows where the US funding to the PA is going, the attorneys for the Department of State are trying to have the lawsuit dismissed on legal technicalities! The government is arguing that the 24 Americans do not have standing to bring a suit as their fear of being injured by Palestinian terrorism is speculative and that the issue of US funding to the Palestinians is a foreign policy power reserved to the President and cannot be reviewed by the courts. The Department of State has asked that the District Court in Washington, DC to dismiss the proceeding without investigating the plaintiffs’ claims that US funds are being utilized by the Palestinians illegally for terrorism that could injure Americans and other innocent civilian residents of Israel.
However, as the suit contends, Americans living in proximity to these Palestinian terror groups are in the class of individuals that Congress sought to protect through the safeguards and regulations that the White House, Department of State and USAID are disregarding. Moreover, the civil action asks the federal court to review the conduct of the Department of State and the safeguards on funds being distributed by USAID in its programs to the PA and to the United Nations Refugee Worker’s Administration (UNRWA) and seeks to suspend future American aid to the PA and UNRWA until all the congressionally legislated regulations and reporting requirements are fully complied with.
The lawsuit does not challenge the President and Department of State’s right to conduct foreign policy nor fund the Palestinians if they misguidedly believe they must prop up this outlaw regime economically. What the plaintiffs instead object to, is the Executive Branch’s funding the PA without complying with the limitations put in place by Congress that were designed to protect American citizens from Palestinian terrorism. This is the reason why there is no political questions being raised, as the Department of State contends, why the requested mandamus jurisdiction is appropriate, why the suit is not about foreign policy powers but rather legitimate objections to statutory interpretation and why the 24 Americans have personally suffered a threatened injury that can be traced to the challenged action of the government and that their threatened injury would likely be redressed by a favorable decision as the law requires.
To view the Department of State’s memo for its motion to dismiss: http://www.scribd.com/doc/134172980/Bernstein-v-Clinton-MTD-Memo
To view the Americans’ lawsuit: http://tinyurl.com/chd5oac
And join with us on the June Ultimate Mission to Israel: http://israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=331
Yours,
Nitsana
Jerry G Said:
I agree
@ yamit82:
Republicans and Democrats are similar to Hamas and Fatah. There are no real differences between the two. The only differences are cosmetic.
He killed two Muslims and two Christians. The Druze are a religion separate from both Islam and Christianity, so I assume he did not kill Druze, but he killed Arabs (and I won’t stoop to call them “stinking”). As much as I hate to agree, this kind of mob behavior is far more common with Arabs than are acts of terror by Jews. Baruch Goldstein and this guy are aberrations and very uncommon. You don’t see Jews indiscriminately firing missiles into civilian Arab areas or slitting the throats of Arab children after sneaking into homes at night.
I find it ludicrous that the government or military was aware of this miscreant’s plans before he killed the innocent passengers. further, even if he committed a heinous act in killing four innocents, it does not justify or take away from the horrific mob justice meted out by the beasts who entered the bus and beat this guy to death. It just shows why a settlement with the Palestinians is not possible because, as a group, they cannot subscribe the rule of law. You don’t see large Jewish mobs doing the same.
Yes, there are many groups considered to be terrorists by the USA. However, the trend in the Middle East is to treat certain terror groups with kid gloves even if they happen to be on that list. The list is becoming increasingly irrelevant if Obama is talking to Hamas and the Taliban through back channels as if they were legitimate governments and promoting the Muslim Brotherhood globally and arming Al Qaeda in Syria. The gap between official policy and real actions is wide. Obama has opened the door to dialogue with Iran, North Korea and many who I think are terrorists. Obama might think of these guys as innocuous, no threat to Americans, but they are immediate threats to millions of others.
CuriousAmerican Said:
yamit82 Said:
Nmmm????? I wonder who I should believe? 🙂
The Israeli Druze are at peace. They serve in your Army. What are you talking about?
yamit82 Said:
CuriousAmerican Said:
It is interesting how you immediatly pop up with an example which again demonstrates your bias. Natan-Zada is a one off atypical behavior for a jewish israeli but the behavior of the collective arab mob which murdered him is typical of the arab collective and could be expected to be the norm; like the lynching of soldiers who lost their way. How dare you compare the jewish israeli collective behavior with the arab muslim collective, behavior: it is night and day and your attempt to again make night and day equal and the same show your despicable character. I do not for one moment believe that you have made an error, I believe all that you do is intentional. J’accuse once more!
CuriousAmerican Said:
I see you are back with your usual disingenuous agenda. Again as always your usual line: all is equal, jews shouldn’t say anything, they do it too.
— the man snapped, that is not terrorism by anyone’s imagination. Furthermore, racial attacks against jews are much more common than attacks against arabs. It should not be treated equal because they decided not to live in peace. At some point if you have not accepted to live in peace and tolerance then you should be evicted as a collective. You prey on the jews need to be and appear fair even when it is suicidal. Stop spouting fecal matter at every possible opportunity, it is obvious, transparent, unattractive and repulsive. Stop fooling yourself into beleiving that rationally constructed sentences cloak your obvious agenda. Its the same every time, get real.
CuriousAmerican Said:
If there is a bias in Israel it is in favor of the Arabs and against Jews. It certainly does sound like you are condemning Israel to my sensitive ear. I also disagree with you that we are just as bad as anyone else or good. We are better.
Depends on whose god and what you discern as being fair. Hindus will accept that about their gods like Kr=hna Muslims about their god and you christians re: your deity.
You know what Jews think of all of them. 😀
The G-d of Israel may be correct but I would never credit him as being fair or merciful.
CuriousAmerican Said:
He did not kill druze but stinking Arabs. He was a mental case probably primed by the Shin Bet, to cause negative reaction against settlers and religious Jewish soldiers ala Dr. Goldstein. In America he would have been section 8 d out of the service and he was under psychiatric care here and should not have been allowed to carry a weapon. At worst he was a Jew who hated Arabs flipped one day and killed some. He was murdered by the Arab mob after he was disarmed and held helpless. I won’t describe what they did to him. Those who murdered him were tracked down due to public nausea of what was done to him and they were all tried for murder.
He was not a terrorist and should not be seen as one by any definition. He was deranged and committed suicide in effect. The government was wrong in so declaring and paying compensation. When Arab murders were set free in deals with terrorists real Jewish terrorists sitting in prison were never set free although by rights they should have, especially Yigal Amir.
Nonsense. The USA defines a lot of groups as terrorists which do not attack Americans. How many Americans are killed by FARC, or the Real IRA?
When Eden Natan-Zada, 19, killed some Druze over the withdrawl from Gaza, the Israeli gov’t refused to recognize the Druze as victims of terrorism.
All nations have bias, even Israel.
This is not condemning anyone. All nations have bias. Israel has a narrow definition, too.
Israel was later forced to change the law over that act.
However, their is some systemic bias.
Jews are human. I would expect nothing else.
Only God is totally fair.
America defines terror not as narrowly as you say.
The USA will continue to fund terrorists until they find out that they are also funding terrorism against their own people. It is easy for the State Department to deliver aid to terrorists if the terrorists have no chance of bombing the White House or other American targets!
Once again I will say that if the shoe were on the other foot, and Israel were funding Al Qaeda to carry out missions in America, then the US would (rightfully) make an ultimatum and then retaliate militarily against Israel if Israel did not comply.
The American definition of terrorism is now narrowly defined as that which affects only Americans. If it targets Israelis then, fine, that is no longer considered terrorism. So although the Republicans and Democrats both engage terrorists according to realpolitik, only recently under the Democrats has terrorism been redefined so narrowly and designed to work against the interests of former allies.
Lawsuit claims aid to Palestinians is ignore Congressional guidelines
All well and good but where was congress and congressional oversight?
I have long held that congress speaks out of both sides of their collect mouths, like the law that requires moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is an example where Republicans can’t blame Democrats or the reverse. They both stink.