More than 5,000 miles from the war-torn Middle East, a Brooklyn federal courtroom this week will be the scene of an unprecedented trial testing a multibillion dollar bank’s liability for allegedly offering material support to Hamas through its financial services.
Though a number of similar cases are pending or have been disposed, the high stakes Eastern District case, Linde v. Arab Bank, 04-CV-2799, is thought to be the first time jurors will weigh whether a financial institution should be held accountable for supporting terrorists under civil provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
