Lebanese Americans sue US over Israel’s rights abuses in Lebanon war

What the report says

Dozens of Lebanese Americans have filed a class action civil lawsuit in US federal court in Michigan, arguing that the US government and several defence contractors helped enable Israeli conduct in Lebanon that they say amounted to human rights abuses. The case, filed Tuesday, names Secretary of State Marco Rubio and companies including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Caterpillar. The plaintiffs include the Michigan-based Arab American Civil Rights League and 16 individuals who say their property in Lebanon was harmed during the war.

According to Al Jazeera, the suit centers on claims that US military aid and weapons supplied to Israel violated the Leahy Law, which restricts assistance to foreign security forces credibly linked to gross human rights violations. The plaintiffs also argue that the contractors should be stopped from providing equipment they say was used in unlawful actions. One plaintiff, Michigan businessman and politician Nasser Beydoun, alleges his family home in southern Lebanon was destroyed without military necessity.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of what the plaintiffs say could be tens of thousands of Lebanese Americans with damaged property in Lebanon, or property that may be affected in the future. In broader context, the case adds to ongoing legal and political disputes in the US over support for Israel during the Lebanon war and the application of US human-rights restrictions on foreign military aid.