Families of American victims in Israel sue Qatar for providing funds to terrorist groups

The families of American victims in Israel filed a lawsuit against Qatar in a New York court on Wednesday for providing funds to terrorist groups, according to the online version of the Arab News. Up to 10 Americans were killed and 51 injured during attacks in Israel between 2014 and 2016. Their families are now claiming financial compensation alleging "wrongful death" during attacks in Israel and the occupied Gaza Strip. 

The complaint points out that Qatar has bypassed sanctions imposed by the United States by providing funds to terrorist groups through three entities: Qatar Charity, sanctioned by the Americans for its proximity to Hamas, and two banks controlled by the Qatari royal family, the Masraf Al-Rayan and the Qatar National Bank (QNB). The president of the board of Qatar Charity is Hamad bin Nasser Al-Thani, also a member of the royal family of Qatar.

"Like any business, terrorist organizations need money to operate. But unlike legitimate organizations, terrorist organizations such as Hamas rely on sympathetic nation states and financial institutions that employ creative fundraising strategies to disguise their operations and evade anti-terrorism laws. Often terrorist financing is disguised as charitable contributions," the document states.

According to the lawsuit: "It has long been the official policy of the Government of Qatar to provide financial support to the terrorist organization Hamas. It is therefore not surprising that the Masraf Al Rayan Bank, Qatar Charity and the Qatar National Bank, which are dominated by the government and the Qatari royal family, have joined this effort.

Qatar is one of the major financial backers of Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip. "In 2008, Palestinian authorities claimed that Qatar provided Hamas with millions of dollars a month that were nominally intended for the people of Gaza," the document states. Hamas grew strong during the first intifada (1987-1993), becoming the main opponent of the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.

The New York suit is backed by extensive research and accuses the Qatar National Bank of holding an account for Husam Badran, a Hamas spokesman and former leader of Hamas' military wing in the northern West Bank. "The name associated with the account is 'Husam Badran', and the second and third digits of the Qatari national identification number associated with that person indicate that 'Husam Badran' was born in 1966, the same year as the notorious terrorist of the same name," the lawsuit claims.

The account information includes a post office box in Doha and indicates that the account has been open at least since August 2015. As a military leader of Hamas, Badran orchestrated the 2001 attack on Sbarro Pizza in Jerusalem, which killed 15 people and injured 130; the 2001 attack on the Dolphinarium discotheque in Tel Aviv, which killed 21 people and injured 120; the 2002 attack on the Passover Seder in the Park Hotel in Netanya, which killed 30 people and injured 140; and the 2002 attack on the Matza restaurant in Haifa, which killed 14 people and injured 33.

In March 2014, David Cohen, then Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the United States Department of the Treasury, singled out Qatar as a "particularly permissive jurisdiction" for terrorist financing, noting that Qatar had for many years openly funded Hamas, a group that continues to undermine regional stability. "Oversight of Qatar is so lax that major Qatar-based fundraisers act as local representatives of large terrorist fundraising networks based in Kuwait," Cohen explains.

Paradoxically, Qatar is home to two US military bases: in Al-Udeid, where 11,000 US military personnel live, and in Al-Sailiya, a suburb on the outskirts of Doha. Despite evidence of Qatar's support for terrorism, the U.S., the U.K. and other countries continue to use Al-Udeid airbase, 20 miles southwest of Doha.

Between 2012 and 2018, the Qatari royal family, through the Qatar Foundation, invested more than $1.4 billion in the creation of local campuses of U.S. colleges and universities. The investments were seen as intended to counter criticism of Doha's support for terrorist organizations. This is not the first demand Qatar has faced in recent times. Last year, in July, Rebecca Castaneda, a lawyer from Tampa, Florida, filed a federal lawsuit against Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad Al-Thani, brother of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. 

The lawsuit claims that Sheikh Khaled threatened two U.S. contractors for not killing his enemies. Castaneda has said the original lawsuit is being expanded to include three more American plaintiffs who allege "even worse violence. Witnesses say Sheikh Khaled killed an Indian employee who insulted his wife and made seven murder claims, including a claim to kill a leader of the American racing industry. "Sheikh Khaled is a very violent person," Castaneda says.