SEND IN THE LAWYERS

Hurt by Hamas, Americans Sue Banks in U.S. - Julia Preston
Two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up on a Jerusalem boulevard where an American college student, Jason Kirschenbaum, was strolling one night in December 2001. The blast shattered his left arm and hammered chunks of metal into his leg. But at least, he says, it left him alive. Five months later, a suicide bomb blast hurled Gloria Kushner, a nurse, against a stand in an outdoor market, wrenching her spine. They are Americans who went to Israel and came home with enduring wounds after they were caught in attacks claimed by Hamas. They are among some 50 Americans - either survivors or relatives of people killed in attacks - who have filed multimillion dollar suits in federal court in Brooklyn against three prominent international banks, Arab Bank, NatWest, and Credit Lyonnais.

The first was filed in July 2004 against Arab Bank, based in Jordan, which with $27 billion in assets is a leading financial institution in the Middle East. It is accused of moving money from the Saudi Committee in Support of the Intifada al Quds, a private charity in Saudi Arabia, to Hamas front organizations. (New York Times)