by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Aug 2 - For the UN's role in Hamas' October 7 attacks, non-US citizen plaintiffs and estates on June 24 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, Pierre Krahenbuhl, Filippo Grandi, Leni Stenseth, Sandra Mitchel, Margot Ellis and Greta Gunnarsdottir.
The individual plaintiffs are sued for, inter alia, their "constant travel to New York" to raise and get money and "their material support of Hamas' terror infrastructure." Also cited, for jurisdiction and venue, is "over one billion dollars from UNRWA's New York bank account in Manhattan that Defendants then caused to be delivered to Gaza in cash U.S. dollars to benefit Hamas."
Inner City Press, which daily cover the SDNY court in-person and the UN from outside the gate, banned from entry by SG Antonio Guterres, asked Guterres' spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Melissa Fleming about the lawsuit, without any response per usual.
Nor have they responded to Inner City Press' June 19 application to enter the UN to ask these questions.
On July 30, the US State Department - at the request of the UN - filed a letter asserting complete impunity: "At the request of the United Nations and in accordance with the United States’ treaty obligations to respect the immunities of the United Nations and its officials, we explain the application of those immunities in this case.1 In light of the United Nations’ immunity, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the United Nations. See Georges v. United Nations, 834 F.3d 88, 98 (2d Cir. 2016). Similarly, the individual U.N. defendants enjoy immunity for their official actions, and two of the individual defendants, by virtue of their high-ranking positions, also enjoy diplomatic immunity." Letter on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here.
Judge Torres has set a schedule: "1. By August 27, 2024, Plaintiffs shall respond to the United States' July 30, 2024 letter; 2. By September 10, 2024, the United States may file a reply, if any."
The UNRWA case is ESTATE OF TAMAR KEDEM SIMAN TOV, BY HEIR-AT-LAW GAD KEDEM v. UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY (UNRWA) et al., 24-cv-04765 (Torres)
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