ACLJ: Israel's Enemies Fight the Jewish State with 'Lawfare'
It's being called "the most significant U.S. federal court case in defense of Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state," according to the American Center for Law and Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow.
Sekulow is talking about a billion-dollar lawsuit Palestinian activists filed basically against the existence of the State of Israel. They are suing numerous pro-Israel organizations and several major American companies and individuals who do business in or support the Jewish state.
The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Washington, D.C.
The complaint alleges that the defendants committed:
- civil conspiracy,
- war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide,
- aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes, and
- aggravated and ongoing trespass
"It's an absurd and outrageous attempt to use the federal courts to accomplish what Palestinian radicals have been unable to accomplish before - the delegitimization of the State of Israel on a global scale," Sekulow wrote in an article on the ACLJ website.
"Having failed at warfare every time they confront Israel militarily, Israel's enemies are now using our courts to fight her with 'lawfare,'" he continued. "Their purpose is clear. Their tactics are viciously aggressive - a scorched earth legal attack."
"We will take the fight to them: our defense will be aggressive, direct, and unwavering," he said.
Sekulow says the ACLJ is directly defending one of the Israeli defendants, the Gush Etzion Foundation.
"The Foundation is a charity dedicated to defending the history and people of Gush Etzion - the Etzion Bloc - a group of Israeli cities, towns and villages in the Judean Mountains near Jerusalem and Bethlehem," Sekulow noted.
"This is an area of great historical and strategic significance from Biblical times to serving as a significant defense of Israel's War of Independence in 1948," he continued.
Sekulow referenced when Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion eulogized the defenders of Gush Etzion in 1948, "I can think of no battle in the annals of the Israel Defense Forces which was more magnificent, more tragic or more heroic than the struggle for Gush Etzion … If there exists a Jewish Jerusalem, our foremost thanks go to the defenders of Gush Etzion."
"By defending our client against these attacks, we are defending Israel, the Israeli people and the right of Jews to live in the very heart of the Jewish homeland," Sekulow wrote.
He said the legal battle may last for years.
The ACLJ has a petition drive, "Defend Israel from Anti-Israel Attacks." If you would like to sign it, click here.
