Why We Reporters Are Taking Legal Action To Obtain Secret Documents in Terrorism Case


Steve Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism; author Edwin Black, who has expertise in terrorism issues and I are taking legal action in an attempt to have secret information unsealed in a U.S. terrorism case filed by victims of the intifada in Israel.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Reporters are taking legal action to force a U.S. District Court to publicly disclose secret documents that are believed to provide new details about payments made to terrorists by the Palestinian government, according to court documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Lawyers have been fighting for months to force a U.S. District Court in New York to unseal scores of documents and testimony that allegedly detail how the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has been paying salaries to convicted terrorists.

The sealed documents were submitted to the court as part of a 2004 lawsuit brought by terrorism victims seeking damages from the PLO as a result of their attacks on Israel.

The victims’ lawyers have argued for months that the documents in question play a critical role in establishing the PLO’s culpability and should be released to the public.

However, Judge George B. Daniels has rejected this request on the basis that the documents may reveal personal information about purported terrorists and potentially “undermine” the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) interests, according to court documents…

The reporters assert in multiple briefs that the public has a right to see the court documents detailing the Palestinian government’s alleged financial support of terrorists.

Read the rest of the story here

Read my recent reporting on U.S. victims of terrorism winning a landmark lawsuit against Arab Bank


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