Nitsana Darshan-Leitner
BornPetach Tikvah, Israel
OccupationLawyer, Jewish rights advocate
NationalityIsraeli
Alma materBar Ilan University
Manchester University
Website
israellawcenter.org

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner (Hebrew: ניצנה דרשן-לייטנר) is an Israeli attorney, human rights activist,[1] and the founder of Shurat HaDin – Israeli Law Center. As the president of the Shurat HaDin, she has represented hundreds of terror victims in legal actions against terror organizations and their supporters. Darshan-Leitner initiated a legal campaign to deprive terrorists of social media resources such as Facebook[2] and Twitter.[3] Darshan-Leitner assisted in blocking the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.[4]

Darshan-Leitner was chosen as one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by The Jerusalem Post,[5] and by Forbes Israel as one of the 50 most influential Israeli women.[6]

Early life, education and family

Darshan-Leitner was born in Petah Tikva, Israel to a Persian Jewish family.[7] Her family emigrated to Israel from a small village outside of Shiraz in Iran at around the time of the founding of the State.[8] She studied Law at Bar-Ilan University and has an MBA from Manchester University.[9] Nitsana is a mother of six including triplets.

Nitsana's husband Aviel (Craig Arthur) Leitner was part of Terror Against Terror (TNT), a militant group of followers of Meir Kahane and associated with Kach.[10] He and four others were charged in 1984 in association with shooting at a bus of Arab workers, along with a series of arsons. Leitner agreed to testify for the prosecution but then fled back home to New York.[10] He was extradited in 1986 and served the remainder of a 30-month sentence.[11] Aviel Leitner now also works for ShuRat HaDin.[12]

Career

In the 1990s, Darshan-Leitner helped litigate a case on behalf of victims of the Achille Lauro hijacking of 1985. During work on this case, she appeared before the Israeli Supreme Court in an attempt to prevent one of the hijackers, Muhammed Abbas, from being allowed to travel to Israel.[7]

In 2003, Darshan-Leitner founded Shurat HaDin in Tel Aviv. Shurat HaDin is an Israeli-based civil rights center which focuses on bringing lawsuits and legal actions on behalf of the victims of terrorism. She has said she was influenced by the activities of the Southern Poverty Law Center which had bankrupted several branches of the KKK and other neo-Nazi groups through civil litigation. In founding Shurat HaDin, she noted her goal was to "go after terrorists in the same way that they (the SPLC) were going after racists".[7]

According to a 2007 leaked US embassy cable, Darshan-Leitner explained to a US embassy official that Shurat HaDin received evidence from and had taken direction "on which cases to pursue" from Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency.[13]

In 2012, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Director of Shurat HaDin, received the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism for fighting Israel's war on terror in courtrooms.[14]

Prominent cases

Since 2003, Darshan-Leitner and a team of lawyers have worked with hundreds of terror victims in lawsuits[15] and legal actions against Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Iran and Syria.[16]

Darshan-Leitner has been involved in a wide range of legal actions in Israel,[17] and abroad, on behalf of Jewish rights cases[18]

In 2012, Darshan-Leitner (Shurat Hadin) sent warning letters to World Vision Australia and AusAID, after the two aid organizations had been accused of funding the Palestinian Union of Agricultural Workers Committee (UAWC), which Darshan-Leitner said was an instrumentality of the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). UAWC - World Vision activities were resumed in early March 2012, after an investigation by World Vision found no evidence that humanitarian support for UAWC was in any way leaking to terrorists.[19] Darshan-Leitner rejected the finding and demanded, under Australia's Freedom of Information Act that AUS Aid and World Vision turn over details of the investigation. She noted that USAID, the agency that administers foreign aid for the U.S. government, has labeled UAWC a PFLP affiliate, an allegation based on a 1993 report.[20]

In May 2008, Shurat HaDin was co-counsel in filing in Manhattan Federal Court against Swiss mega bank UBS GA[21] which is accused by the plaintiffs of financing terror.

In July 2008, the Center joined with Montreal-based attorney Jeffrey Boro and Professor Ed Morgan of the University of Toronto's International Law and Counter-Terrorism Project to file a civil action by Canadian victims of Hizbollah. The lawsuit.[22] contends that since 2004, the Lebanese-Canadian Bank (LCB), formerly the Lebanese branch of the Royal Bank of Canada, permitted the Yousser Company for Finance and Investment and the Martyrs Foundation, two Lebanese organizations recognized by the United States as active terrorist groups, to open and maintain accounts at the bank.

On July 14, 2008, Darshan-Leiter and Attorney Robert Tolchin of New York filed a civil action on behalf of victims of the Hizbollah against an American Bank. The action was filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan Representing 85 victims and their family members, the lawsuit[23] alleges that the American Express (AMEX) Bank, Ltd. and the Lebanese-Canadian Bank (LCB) unlawfully executed millions of dollars in wire transfers for Hizbollah between 2004 and 2006.

In February 2011, Darshan-Leitner and David Schoen filed a $5m lawsuit against former US President Jimmy Carter, alleging that his book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, "intentionally misleads and misrepresents about actual historic events", contrary to New York state law against deceptive business practices.[24] In May 2011, three months after the filing, the suit was dropped by the plaintiffs.[25]

Israel Law Center Writ Seeking Seizure from ICANN for Iran's web domains

In June 2014, Darshan-Leitner filed a writ in the United States District Court in Washington, D. C., seeking seizure of the web domains belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran to compensate victims of Iranian sponsored terrorism.[26] The awarding of this seizure and the assets to the plaintiffs of a 2003 lawsuit where they won a monetary award, but have been unable to collect.[27] This suit, filed against Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), seeks the seizure based on ICANN's position as a United States registered non-profit organization. The debate on whether ICANN should be under the jurisdiction of the U.S. has been going on for some time, and has not been resolved.[28]

In September 2014, Shurat HaDin filed a war crimes complaint against Khaled Mashaal,[29] the top leader of Hamas at the International Criminal Court for executing Palestinians[30] without trial during the Summer 2014 Gaza war.[31]

Sokolow et al v. Palestine Liberation Organization et al - Darshan-Leitner was co-counsel in the civil proceedings against the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, which found both organizations liable for the injuries and deaths of American citizens caused by six terror attacks in Israel between 2001 and 2004. Damages totaling $655.5 million were awarded by the jury.[32] However, on 31 August 2016, the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that US federal courts lacked overseas jurisdiction on civil cases.[33][34] The suit was ultimately sent back to the trial court for dismissal.

In September 2020, and after pressure from Israeli and Jewish lobby groups including Shurat HaDin,[35] the US-based firm Zoom Video Communications, developer of the video teleconferencing app Zoom canceled a webinar that was to be held at San Francisco State University featuring Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who took part in two plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970.[36]

In September 2021, The Jerusalem District Court ruled Hamas must pay NIS 38 million ($11.8 million) to the families of Naftali Fraenkel, Eyal Yifrach, and Gilad Shaar, three teenagers kidnapped and murdered in the West Bank in 2014.[37] The families were represented in the trial by Shurat HaDin.

Public campaigns

On May 1, 2008, Darshan-Leitner along with former Soviet Ida Nudel launched a public campaign to save the life of a Palestinian police officer accused of having assisted the Israeli intelligence services in hunting down fugitive terrorists. The policeman, Imad Sa'ad[38] has been sentenced to death by a Palestinian military tribunal in Hebron. Sa'ad, it is alleged, provided the Israel Defense Forces with the whereabouts of four suspected bomb makers whom the Palestinian Authority was unwilling to hand over to the Israelis.

Darshan-Leitner has argued that the Temple Mount is being harmed by work carried out by the Jerusalem Wakf and she organized a campaign to encourage the Israeli government to file charges against the Wakf. "The Temple Mount", one of the holiest sites in the Muslim world and home of the Al-Aqsa mosque, "is the property of Jewish nation and has been for thousands of years", claimed Darshan-Leitner.[39] Darshan-Leitner took the case to court and lost. The High Court (BAGATZ), dismissed the claim.[40]

In December 2020, she presented the book Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism's Money Masters she co-wrote with Samuel M. Katz, detailing the legal fights against terror organizations.[41]

Works

  • Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism's Money Masters. Hachette, 2020. ISBN 9780316399012

References

  1. ↑ "Fighting Israel's asymmetric war". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  2. ↑ "Facebook sued in mega court case". Israel National News. March 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  3. ↑ "Fiancee of N.Y. man killed in Brussels bombing suing Twitter". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  4. ↑ "Lawyers, not IDF, at forefront of battle against flotilla". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  5. ↑ "Jerusalem Post 50 Most Influential Jews: Number 31 - Nitsana Darshan-Leitner". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  6. ↑ "Forbes Israel".
  7. 1 2 3 "Nitsana darshan Leitner born" at Jewish Press Archived February 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Fighting Israel's asymmetric war".
  9. ↑ WORLD SUMMIT ON COUNTER-TERRORISM
  10. 1 2 Hirschhorn, Sara Yael (May 22, 2017). City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement. Harvard University Press. PT169. ISBN 9780674979178. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  11. ↑ Middle East Eye staff (2020-12-09). "Israeli 'anti-terrorism' lawyer was convicted over attacks on Palestinians". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2022-07-17, citing a 1986 Maariv report.
  12. ↑ https://www.israellawcenter.org/about-us
  13. ↑ Strickland, Patrick (November 6, 2015). "Israel arrests Palestinian teenager over Facebook posts". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  14. ↑ "Shurat HaDin head to receive Zionism prize". Jerusalem Post. May 22, 2012.
  15. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (May 2, 2003). "Attorney hits terrorists where it hurts". Jewish Review. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  16. ↑ Miller, Judith (August 2, 2000). "Syria Is Sued by Family of Man Killed by '96 Bomb in Jerusalem". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  17. ↑ "Israeli Town Demands Anti-Missile Laser". Fox News. March 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  18. ↑ Pittok, Todd (February 22, 2005). "On the trail of terrorists". JewsWeek. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
  19. ↑ "Vision back as AusAID dismisses 'terror' link". The Australian. March 2, 2012.
  20. ↑ Narunsky, Gareth (23 February 2012). "Probe into charity's alleged links with terrorist organisation". The Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Swiss mega bank UBS GA Accused of Financing Terror". Fox News. May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  22. ↑ "Lawsuit targets bank over alleged Hezbollah ties". CTA Global Media. July 8, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  23. ↑ "Survivors of 2006 Hezbollah attacks sue 2 banks for $650M in federal court in US". LA Times. July 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  24. ↑ Horn, Jordana (3 February 2011). "Jimmy Carter being sued for alleged falsehoods". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  25. ↑ Bosman, Julie (5 May 2011). "Plaintiffs Drop Suit Over Jimmy Carter Book". New York Times.
  26. ↑ Yaron, Oded (26 June 2014). "Israeli and U.S. terror victims move to seize Iran's domain names". International Herald Tribune. Ha'Aretz.
  27. ↑ Levitt, Joshua (25 June 2014). "Israeli Legal Team Threatens to Seize Iranian Internet Domain '.ir' on Behalf of Terror Victims". Algemeiner. Algemeiner Journal.
  28. ↑ Timberg, Craig (14 March 2014). "U.S. to relinquish remaining control over the Internet". The Washington Post.
  29. ↑ Deitch, Ian (3 September 2014). "Israeli group files war crimes claim against Hamas". Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014.
  30. ↑ "Hamas Publicly Executes 18 Palestinians Accused of Aiding Israel". Newsweek. Reuters. 22 August 2014.
  31. ↑ Jeremy Bob, Yonah (3 September 2014). "NGO asks ICC to indict Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on war crimes charges". The Jerusalem Post.
  32. ↑ Palestinian Groups Are Found Liable at Manhattan Terror Trial
  33. ↑ Weiser, Benjamin (2016-08-31). "Court Throws Out $655.5 Million Terrorism Verdict Against Palestinian Groups". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  34. ↑ "U.S. court voids $655 million verdict against PLO over Israel attacks". Reuters. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  35. ↑ Israeli law firm demands California uni. drop PLFP hijacker as speaker. Jerusalem Post
  36. ↑ Zoom cancels talk by Palestinian hijacker Leila Khaled at San Francisco State University. The Verge
  37. ↑ Court orders Hamas to pay NIS 38 million to families of three murdered teens. Ynet
  38. ↑ Lake, Eli (May 5, 2008). "Appeal Is Made to Bush To Save Arab Accused of Helping Israel". NY Daily Sun. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  39. ↑ Klein, Aaron (9 November 2007). "Muslims Sued for Destroying Jewish Temple Artifacts". The Temple Institute. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  40. ↑ "Israeli High Court Blocks Prosecution of Islamic Waqf". Shurat HaDin Israeli Law Center. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  41. ↑ Shurat Hadin President Releases American Best Seller "Harpoon" In Hebrew. PR Newswire
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