The U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act

Under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act, U.S. and Lebanese plaintiffs could own one of these Boeing 777s


The U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) is a legal instrument that can be used by U.S. and foreign citizens, including Lebanese, to bring suit against Israel for its destructive attack and invasion of Lebanon. A judgment against Israel in a U.S. Court could result in Israeli assets in America being attached and monetary damages being paid to the plaintiffs.

The ATCA, enacted by our nation’s founders in 1789 as part of the original Judiciary Act asserts that U.S. “district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” Israel’s actions in contravention of a number of international laws and treaties to which the United States is a party, makes it civilly liable to Lebanese, Americans, and others who were harmed physically or financially by Israel’s illegal actions in Lebanon.

Israel is no stranger to using the ATCA for its own interests. In Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic, 726 F.2d 774 (D.C.Cir.1984), Israeli plaintiffs sued Libya in the District of Columbia citing claims against Libya for its alleged involvement in an armed attack upon a civilian bus in Israel.

Attorneys for the families of victims of 911 and other terrorist attacks have also sought to use ATCA to seek damages from Saudi Arabia and Sudan for alleged support for Al Qaeda.

A civil suit against Israel under the ATCA could be particularly helpful to the poor domestic workers from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Moldova, Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines, Ethiopia, Nepal, Vietnam, Fiji, and Ghana who were trapped in Lebanon with little or no funds. International Organization for Migration was too financially stretched to help, forcing these workers into getting out the best way they could, either from helpful third-party nations or from their own cash-strapped countries. Other families were forced to pay boat fares as high as $17,000 to evacuate to Cyprus and Turkey.

A judgment against Israel under ATCA in a U.S. court could see the seizure and forfeiture of Israeli assets in the United States and the transfer of liquidated assets to U.S., Lebanese, and other plaintiffs. These could include Israeli government accounts held in U.S. branches of Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and the Israel Discount Bank, Israeli parastatal defense companies with assets in the United States, such as Israel Military Industries (IMI), and even El Al aircraft on runways in the United States.

Syria, the subject of scorn by the neo-cons in Washington and Jerusalem, deserves much credit and ultimate compensation by the Israeli and American perpetrators, for waving visa requirements for fleeing refugees, including Americans, from the fighting in Lebanon. It opened its airports and seaports to hundreds of foreign evacuation aircraft and ships. Syria could seek direct compensation from Israel through the World Court.