| Judge Ruled UNRWA
Has Immunity for Aiding Hamas
Oct 7 Attack Now Appeal Filed
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Oct 29 - For the UN's role in
Hamas' October 7 attacks,
non-US citizen plaintiffs and
estates on June 24 filed a
lawsuit in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York against
UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini,
Pierre Krahenbuhl, Filippo
Grandi, Leni Stenseth, Sandra
Mitchel, Margot Ellis and
Greta Gunnarsdottir.
The
individual plaintiffs are sued
for, inter alia, their
"constant travel to New York"
to raise and get money and
"their material support of
Hamas' terror infrastructure."
Also cited, for jurisdiction
and venue, is "over one
billion dollars from UNRWA's
New York bank account in
Manhattan that Defendants then
caused to be delivered to Gaza
in cash U.S. dollars to
benefit Hamas."
Inner City
Press, which daily cover the
SDNY court in-person and the
UN from outside the gate,
banned from entry by SG
Antonio Guterres, asked
Guterres' spokespeople
Stephane Dujarric and Melissa
Fleming about the lawsuit,
without any response per
usual.
Nor have they
responded to Inner City Press'
June 19, 2025 application
to enter the UN to ask these
questions.
On February 18,
the (new) SDNY wrote in, "The
Government is currently
reviewing the views." Letter
on Inner City Press'
DocumentCloud here
On April 24 the
Administration wrote in that
it "has since reevaluated that
position" - 10 page filing on
DocumentCloud here.
On June 27 the
UN's lawyer while citing the
immunity of Ruud Lubbers for
sexual harassment also argued
"While Halk
Bankasi is irrelevant,
Plaintiffs’ case is not
predicated on any commercial
activity by Defendants." This
while Guterres and others are
pitching hard for
funds... 17 page UN
filing on DocumentCloud here.
On October 1 in a
20+ page ruling Judge Torres
ruled "Because UNRWA is
a subsidiary organ of the
United Nations and has not
waived its immunity, it is
entitled to immunity under the
CPIUN. The Individual
Defendants, including
Defendants Lazzarini and
Grandi, are likewise protected
by diplomatic immunity for
actions taken in their
official capacities under the
CPIUN and VCDR. Accordingly,
this Court lacks subject
matter jurisdiction over
Plaintiffs’ claims.
Defendants’ motion to dismiss
is GRANTED, and the complaint
DISMISSED with prejudice."
Yes, prejudice. Full Order on
Patreon here
On July 9 a
second case, noted as related,
was filed by US citizens under
the Anti-Terrorism Act, naming
UNRWA, Lazzarini, Krahenbuhl,
Grandi, Leni Steseth, Sandra
Mitchell, Morgot Ellis and
Greta Gunnarsdottir.
On October 3, the
Curtis law firm paid by the
public including the US public
pushed for denial of this
second case.
On October 29,
the immunity ruling in the
first case was appealed to the
Second Circuit. Inner City
Press will follow and cover
the appeal(s).
It is Atzili v.
UNRWA, 1:25-cv-5677
(Unassigned) Inner City Press
has put the 215 page complaint
on its DocumentCloud here
The first UNRWA
case is ESTATE OF TAMAR KEDEM
SIMAN TOV, BY HEIR-AT-LAW GAD
KEDEM v. UNITED NATIONS RELIEF
AND WORKS AGENCY (UNRWA) et
al., 24-cv-04765 (Torres)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2024 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
