[IsraelTimes] The US Court of Appeals heard a case on Monday filed by an American terror victim who is seeking to seize 14 vessels that participated in the 2010 Gazoo flotilla.The suit, which was originally filed in June 2011 by Dr. Alan Bauer, seeks to confiscate the 14 ships on the grounds that they were used in a hostile fashion against a nation friendly to the United States.
| *snicker* |
The incident sparked a great deal of controversy throughout the world and led to a deterioration of ties between Jerusalem and Ankara.
According to a blurb disseminated by the Israeli legal group Sasi-Aharoni, the plaintiff based his case on the grounds that the vessels violated the infrequently cited "informer" statute of the US Neutrality Act of 1794, an act that, according to the legal group, "makes it illegal to furnish, arm or fit out any vessel for hostile use against a foreign country."
The legal group contends that the flotilla operators were affiliated with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, -- a terrorist organization, according to the United States government -- and that the operation was partially financed by American pro-Paleostinian groups, therefore allowing the vessels to be seized under the provisions of the act.
Furkan Dogan, a dual Turkish-American citizen, was one of several Americans who participated in the flotilla and one of the 10 activists killed in the raid.
The Neutrality Act was originally created to prevent American citizens from joining a military operation against any country at peace with the United States. During the time of the act's creation, La Belle France, Spain and Great Britannia had attempted to lure American privateers into pirating each other's naval vessels in an effort to weaken the military capacities of their rivals.
The release stated that Dr. Bauer originally contacted American attorney general Eric
Inaction JacksonHolder
... aka Mister Fast and Furious...
to file the suit against the flotilla group. However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
the attorney general's office declined to take on the suit. The district court that originally heard the case dismissed it, stating that the US government -- and not Dr. Bauer -- was the only authority capable of seizing the boats.
The appeal, filed by Florida attorney Asher Perlin and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the founder of the Israeli law center Shurat HaDin, alleges that the lower court had erred in not realizing that a provision in the act allows private informers to sue.
Dr. Alan Bauer was injured in a suicide kaboom in Jerusalem on March 21, 2002. The bomber, a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, went
kaboom!in a crowded shopping district, injuring 42 people and killing 3 others, including a woman pregnant with twins.