By Nitsana Darshan-Leitner
JERUSALEM — The Jerusalem District Court last week awarded a family of
terror victims an unprecedented judgment in the amount of N.I.S. 90 million ($20
million) against a Palestinian terrorist organization.
Six children of the Gavish family brought suit against the Hamas in the
District Court in May
2002 following a brutal terrorist attack on their home which left four members
of the household, including both parents, dead. The District Court's decision
sought to punish the Hamas for the murders and provide some measure of
compensation for the surviving family members.
On the evening of March 28, 2002, a Hamas gunman, armed with an automatic rifle,
infiltrated the Gavish family's home in the community of Alon Moreh and opened
fire on its inhabitants. The terrorist immediately killed Rachel and David
Gavish, 50, their son Avraham Gavish, 20, and Rachel's father Yitzhak Kanner,
83, before being killed himself by neighbors. The
remaining six children, ages 15 to 22, managed to escape out of a second floor
window.
The civil action was brought on behalf of the children by Shurat HaDin, which I
serve as the director. It is the first time that the Hamas has been successfully
sued in an Israeli court.
At trial, we urged the District Court to find the Hamas organization
liable for the four deaths and to award the Gavish family an unprecedented
"American-style" judgment amount. The plaintiffs argued that there was
no justification nor mitigating circumstances that could rationalize this
heinous terrorist attack and that the Palestinian terrorist group should not be
provided any leniency by the court.
District Court Judge Aharon Farkash accepted the arguments and his decision
established an important legal precedent — the awarding of punitive damages
against terrorist defendants— for other victims seeking justice against
Palestinian terrorists in the Israeli courts.
The District Court wrote concerning its rationale for awarding the Gavish
family punitive damages: "With no need to elaborate, I believe, that the
current case is appropriate for awarding punitive compensation against the
defendant. The sinful act of murder justifies such an award. It
is a terrorist action, which was done with intent and full awareness to cause
the death of the victims and the damage to their families, since there is no
other explanation for this act. Behind the act is a pure hatred that brought
about the death of the decedents and a very difficult and traumatic experience
upon the plaintiffs - their survivors."
On Sunday, Feb. 5, one of the plaintiffs in the case, Yeshurun Gavish, found
himself in the vicinity of another terrorist attack. When a Palestinian
passenger riding on a mini-bus traveling in the city of Petah Tikva, began to
stab fellow bus riders, Gavish who was nearby, quickly responded to
the victims' cries for help. He drew his pistol and charging the terrorist,
managed to overpower the attacker before he could stab any additional
passengers. Tragically, one women was killed in the attack.
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