- This major lawsuit aims to expose the connection between US organizations associated with the BDS movement that disguise themselves as fundraisers for human rights causes, and a number of terrorist organizations, including Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
- As a result of incendiary kite terror, over 2,155 fires were ignited, causing extensive damage to residents and wildlife of the Gaza border region, along with destroying about 8,000 acres of open space including forests, agricultural fields and nature reserves.
- KKL-JNF World Chairman: “It is inconceivable that terrorist organizations should be able to continue their activities without being held accountable. They must pay for their criminal deeds against the state of Israel.”
On Wednesday, November 13, KKL-JNF, together with the residents of the Gaza border region, filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C., against the “Education for a Just Peace in the Middle East” organization for conspiring to give financial and other means of assistance to terror organizations active in the Gaza Strip. According to the lawsuit, the organization, which fundraises in the USA as part of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) serves as a channel, by means of the BDS movement, for transferring donations to terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The BDS movement has been suspected for years of playing a key role in the promotion and support of terrorist organizations, but now, KKL-JNF is providing detailed evidence to successfully expose, for the first time, the connection between BDS and direct funding of terrorist organizations.
Last year, the state of Israel dealt with a new sort of terror that wreaked catastrophe on the Gaza border region and its inhabitants. Kites and balloons loaded with Molotov cocktails, flammable materials or explosive devices were launched into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip by terrorists who are members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, for the sole purpose of injuring civilians and setting forests and agricultural fields on fire.
During the months of this assault, over 2,155 fires were ignited, destroying about 8,000 acres of open spaces including forests, agricultural fields and nature reserves, along with causing severe damage to local animal life. Besides the unprecedented damage to nature and the local ecosystem, the unceasing attacks critically affected the security of local residents, their livelihoods (a great deal of agricultural fields are located in this region), and their physical and mental health. According to estimates provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the cost of the damage, not including psychological damage to local residents, comes to at least 50 million dollars.
KKL-JNF was involved in dealing with the damage caused by the kite terror from the moment it began. All of KKL-JNF’s Southern Region employees dedicated themselves to one cause – mitigating the damage done by kite terror to local residents, the forests and the agricultural fields. KKL-JNF personnel worked in the field in full cooperation with the Israel Fire Department, the IDF and the Israel Police, by means of the KKL-JNF 4x4 firefighting trucks that were active 24/7, fire watchtowers, and field patrols that updated work teams round the clock.
The aforementioned lawsuit is the first of its kind to be filed for damage caused by kite terror. KKL-JNF is being legally represented by Heideman Nudelman & Kalik PC Law Firm from Washington, D.C.
KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar, who initiated the lawsuit, said the following: “This lawsuit exposes the connection between organizations that disguise themselves as fundraisers for human rights in the USA, headed by the BDS movement, and a number of terrorist organizations, including Islamic Jihad and the Hamas. The time for filing the lawsuit was determined a while back, but at the present time, while Israeli citizens are under unceasing attacks by the Gaza terrorist organizations, it is doubly important. It is inconceivable that terrorist organizations should continue their activities without being held accountable for their criminal deeds, not only against the state of Israel, but also against nature and the environment, which were terribly damaged by this criminal environmental terror. During the incendiary kite terror that was launched the past year, it was proved once again that those who sent them are lacking any human values, not only towards their fellow human beings but also towards animals and natural resources.”
Advocate Yifat Segal from the International Legal Forum, who serves as an external advisor for this lawsuit along with working together with the law firm, explained that “this lawsuit, which sets a precedent, exposes a shocking and very intricate conspiracy whose goal is to manipulate the general public and to hide the illegal activities of international terrorist organizations behind the cover of seemingly legal civilian activities.” She went on to say that “the general public and decision-makers throughout the world have the right to know the truth, and it is important that they should be aware of the true identities and goals of the terror organizations that are misleading us. The immediate imperative is to expose the cynical way they are taking advantage of civilian fronts and democratic processes for the purpose of terrorism.”