Washington, D.C.
A Washington-based human rights group filed a lawsuit this week against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President George Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and United States defense contractors as well as some Christian and Jewish organizations that are financially supporting the development of an illegal settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
The suit was filed for punitive damages and injunctive relief specifically demanding that the president and the secretary of state "cease providing military assistance to Israel until they have reported to Congress the misuse of American military assistance by Israel," as required under the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 on behalf of 21 Palestinians, most of them United States citizens.
"These plaintiffs are not militants even by Israel’s definition. None committed any crimes, before their houses were destroyed, killed, or assaulted.... ," said Attorney Stanley Cohen, who filed the lawsuit this week for Solidarity International for Human Rights, a non-profit Palestinian-American organization based in Washington.
A Washington-based human rights group filed a lawsuit this week against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President George Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and United States defense contractors as well as some Christian and Jewish organizations that are financially supporting the development of an illegal settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
The suit was filed for punitive damages and injunctive relief specifically demanding that the president and the secretary of state "cease providing military assistance to Israel until they have reported to Congress the misuse of American military assistance by Israel," as required under the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 on behalf of 21 Palestinians, most of them United States citizens.
"These plaintiffs are not militants even by Israel’s definition. None committed any crimes, before their houses were destroyed, killed, or assaulted.... ," said Attorney Stanley Cohen, who filed the lawsuit this week for Solidarity International for Human Rights, a non-profit Palestinian-American organization based in Washington.