Israel Matzav

Palestinian Sues PA in US Courts

A Palestinian man has sued the Palestinian Authority in the US courts, claiming that he was tortured for six months because he helped Israel to prevent terror attacks (in 'Palestinian' parlance, that is called a "collaborator").

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan says Ali Mahmud Ali Shafi was kidnapped on Sept. 22, 2001, in a Palestinian Authority-controlled territory and tortured for six months.

Shafi lived in the Palestinian Authority's West Bank town of Kalkilia from 1948, when the state of Israel was created, until 1994, when he moved to the Israeli city of Haifa, the lawsuit says. Before moving to Israel, he helped the Israeli General Security Services prevent terrorist attacks on its citizens, it says.

In September 2001, he returned to Kalkilia so his daughter could visit her grandmother, and members of the Palestinian security service entered their house and asked him to accompany them to the service's headquarters for 10 minutes, the lawsuit says.

When he arrived at the service, he was stripped, handcuffed and beaten, and hot salt water was poured onto his wounds, the lawsuit says. He escaped when Israeli soldiers passed through town, scaring his guards, it says.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages on Shafi's behalf, saying it would be impossible for him to get justice in areas controlled by the defendants, which include the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization. [No great surprise there. CiJ]

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:38 PM