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| In Closing Arguments, Debating Arab Bank’s Responsibility to Identify Terrorists | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| What should the role of a bank be when it is forced to operate in areas torn apart by terrorist attacks? | What should the role of a bank be when it is forced to operate in areas torn apart by terrorist attacks? |
| That was a central theme Thursday during closing arguments in a landmark terrorism-financing trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, pitting victims of terrorist attacks in the Middle East against Arab Bank. | That was a central theme Thursday during closing arguments in a landmark terrorism-financing trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, pitting victims of terrorist attacks in the Middle East against Arab Bank. |
| “Who decides who’s a terrorist?” said Shand S. Stephens, a lawyer representing the bank, whose headquarters are in Jordan. “The plaintiffs have accused, by my count, over 150 people, and 12 charitable organizations, and the Saudi Committee, of being Hamas-associated terrorists. They admit, by the way, that there’s no publicly available list of members in Hamas. They’ve concluded that these people are terrorists, and you are to as well.” | “Who decides who’s a terrorist?” said Shand S. Stephens, a lawyer representing the bank, whose headquarters are in Jordan. “The plaintiffs have accused, by my count, over 150 people, and 12 charitable organizations, and the Saudi Committee, of being Hamas-associated terrorists. They admit, by the way, that there’s no publicly available list of members in Hamas. They’ve concluded that these people are terrorists, and you are to as well.” |
| At issue in the trial is whether Arab Bank knowingly handled transactions linked to terrorists. It is the first civil case against a bank under the Anti-Terrorism Act to go to trial, and with several other cases pending, the trial is being watched closely. The plaintiffs are about 300 people injured in attacks in and around Israel that they say Hamas carried out during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, of the early 2000s. | At issue in the trial is whether Arab Bank knowingly handled transactions linked to terrorists. It is the first civil case against a bank under the Anti-Terrorism Act to go to trial, and with several other cases pending, the trial is being watched closely. The plaintiffs are about 300 people injured in attacks in and around Israel that they say Hamas carried out during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, of the early 2000s. |
| On Thursday, after more than five weeks of testimony about episodes across the world from people who lived across the world, Mr. Stephens, who lives in Manhattan, appeared to be trying to make this case seem accessible to the jury of New Yorkers. | On Thursday, after more than five weeks of testimony about episodes across the world from people who lived across the world, Mr. Stephens, who lives in Manhattan, appeared to be trying to make this case seem accessible to the jury of New Yorkers. |
| The bank maintains that it followed proper compliance procedures, checking transactions against appropriate terrorist lists; those that slipped through were simply errors, it says. Mr. Stephens said the bank should not be expected to identify terrorists on its own, and compared Arab Bank to well-known companies in the United States. | The bank maintains that it followed proper compliance procedures, checking transactions against appropriate terrorist lists; those that slipped through were simply errors, it says. Mr. Stephens said the bank should not be expected to identify terrorists on its own, and compared Arab Bank to well-known companies in the United States. |
| “You wouldn’t want to have Google, or Facebook, or Walmart, or Target, or Bank of America, or TD Bank, or Arab Bank, deciding who’s a terrorist,” Mr. Stephens said. “You put your credit card in to buy some clothes at Walmart, and then it’s, ‘We can’t do this transaction because we here at Walmart have decided you’re a terrorist, or your brother’s a terrorist.’ That’s the proposition that’s being floated here, that private businesses, including banks, are supposed to make up their own lists of terrorists.” | “You wouldn’t want to have Google, or Facebook, or Walmart, or Target, or Bank of America, or TD Bank, or Arab Bank, deciding who’s a terrorist,” Mr. Stephens said. “You put your credit card in to buy some clothes at Walmart, and then it’s, ‘We can’t do this transaction because we here at Walmart have decided you’re a terrorist, or your brother’s a terrorist.’ That’s the proposition that’s being floated here, that private businesses, including banks, are supposed to make up their own lists of terrorists.” |
| C. Tab Turner, a plaintiff’s lawyer, described Arab Bank as having held so many accounts for terrorists that it was “like being in a Hamas 7-Eleven on the corner.” He took specific issue with the bank’s blanket reliance on the terrorism-designation list from the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC. | C. Tab Turner, a plaintiff’s lawyer, described Arab Bank as having held so many accounts for terrorists that it was “like being in a Hamas 7-Eleven on the corner.” He took specific issue with the bank’s blanket reliance on the terrorism-designation list from the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC. |
| “All you hear is OFAC this and OFAC that, and when was he designated,” Mr. Turner said, arguing that the bank’s defense — that it checked names before paying — was insufficient. “The law tells you just because you used your little OFAC filter that you’re so proud of, just because you used that,” that does not absolve the bank of liability. | “All you hear is OFAC this and OFAC that, and when was he designated,” Mr. Turner said, arguing that the bank’s defense — that it checked names before paying — was insufficient. “The law tells you just because you used your little OFAC filter that you’re so proud of, just because you used that,” that does not absolve the bank of liability. |
| Mr. Turner told the jury that a finding of liability could have a broad impact extending beyond the courtroom. “That is the power that you have, to tell other banks, don’t you dare do what these people did,” he said. “That is how you stop terrorism. You don’t stop ’em with bullets. You don’t stop ’em with smart bombs. That helps in the interim. But how you stop ’em is you take money away from them.” | Mr. Turner told the jury that a finding of liability could have a broad impact extending beyond the courtroom. “That is the power that you have, to tell other banks, don’t you dare do what these people did,” he said. “That is how you stop terrorism. You don’t stop ’em with bullets. You don’t stop ’em with smart bombs. That helps in the interim. But how you stop ’em is you take money away from them.” |
| In his instructions to the jury, Judge Brian M. Cogan said that it was not enough to find that the bank knowingly provided material support or resources to Hamas; to hold the bank liable, it must also find that the bank’s support of Hamas was the “proximate cause” of the terrorism events. The jury would have to conclude that the plaintiffs’ injuries were “reasonably foreseeable” as a consequence of the bank’s acts. | In his instructions to the jury, Judge Brian M. Cogan said that it was not enough to find that the bank knowingly provided material support or resources to Hamas; to hold the bank liable, it must also find that the bank’s support of Hamas was the “proximate cause” of the terrorism events. The jury would have to conclude that the plaintiffs’ injuries were “reasonably foreseeable” as a consequence of the bank’s acts. |
| The judge added that in one element of proving liability, the officers or employees of the bank had to have knowingly provided support to Hamas, rather than the bank’s generally having supported terrorism. That point was seized upon by Mr. Stephens, the bank’s lawyer. | The judge added that in one element of proving liability, the officers or employees of the bank had to have knowingly provided support to Hamas, rather than the bank’s generally having supported terrorism. That point was seized upon by Mr. Stephens, the bank’s lawyer. |
| He pointed out that one trial witness, the Arab Bank chairman, Sabih al-Masri, and his family had “twice been the victim of terrorists.” | He pointed out that one trial witness, the Arab Bank chairman, Sabih al-Masri, and his family had “twice been the victim of terrorists.” |
| Another witness, Shukry Bishara, a top bank executive, had “a suicide bomber go off in front of his children’s school,” Mr. Stephens added. | Another witness, Shukry Bishara, a top bank executive, had “a suicide bomber go off in front of his children’s school,” Mr. Stephens added. |
| “You have to find that somebody, some person, wanted to support terrorism, knew there were terrorists,” Mr. Stephens said. | “You have to find that somebody, some person, wanted to support terrorism, knew there were terrorists,” Mr. Stephens said. |