Chicago, IL, December 28, 2007 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed deep disappointment over a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to overturn a landmark judgment against four Islamic charities and an alleged fundraiser for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, for complicity in the murder of David Boim, a 17-year old American citizen, in the West Bank.

Lonnie Nasatir, ADL Chicago Regional Director, issued the following statement:

Allowing victims to sue those who fund, support and enable their attackers is a key weapon in the fight against terrorism.  The court today blunts that critical tool. 

ADL believes, and a dissenting judge agreed, that it should be sufficient to show that the defendants knowingly raised money that was used (or freed up other monies for use) to facilitate a terrorist act.

This case is especially troubling because the court rejected the clear intention of Congress which allowed for such lawsuits against those who aide and abet terrorists.  The court also rejected well-settled American law which permits such liability.  In short, the Seventh Circuit has badly misapplied precedent and misread the law in reaching its unfortunate conclusion.

We extend our deepest sympathies to the Boim family in this difficult time.

David Boim was murdered by two Hamas terrorists on March 13, 1996, while he waited for a bus to Jerusalem.

In November 2005, Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys found the Holy Land Foundation, the Islamic Association for Palestine, the American Muslim Society and alleged Hamas fundraiser Muhammad Salah responsible for David Boim's death under U.S. anti-terrorism law. A jury found a fifth defendant liable, the Quranic Literacy Institute, in December. That court ordered the Defendants to pay $156 million in damages to Stanley and Joyce Boim, David's parents.

The law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP prepared a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of ADL.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.