Thread by @LaraFriedmanDC

The lawfare continues — in the crosshairs of David Abrams and his Zionist Advocacy Center, the "anti-Israel" org known as… Oxfam.

facebook.com/ZionistAdvocac…

pacermonitor.com/public/case/29…

Worth noting that in this case the US Govt declined to intervene (in contrast to Abrams previous case against Norwegian People’s Aid), but also did not ask for dismissal (as it did in the Carter Center case).

That means that Abrams will be telling the court Oxfam defrauded the US govt, but the US Govt won’t be joining him in making the case.

Here’s pages 1-4 of 7-page TZAC’s complaint:

Here’s page 5-7 of that complaint:

Key points:

Abrams alleges TZAC is "is very much anti-Israel” - based exclusively on quote from…NGO Monitor 😄

Abrams 1st argument is that by working in Gaza - which means working with Hamas authorities (not with US funds), Oxfam - by definition - gave support to terrorism, & therefore lied to the USG on its anti-terror certification in connection with work elsewhere.

That parallels the argument Abrams made in the cases of the Carter Center & NPA. But there’s more — and here’s where it gets really interesting….

Abrams then argues that even if one doesn’t agree that Oxfam aided Hamas, it doesn’t matter because Oxfam worked with the Palestinian Authority….

And, he argues, based on the logic of “pay to slay” — which everyone of course knows about! — the PA:

“is an ‘entity’ that ‘facilitates’ terrorist acts… Accordingly, Oxfam has provided material support to an entity or entities that engage in and/or facilitate terrorism."

Folks, this is what I have been warning about since the introduction of the Taylor Force Act. This has NEVER been about USG aid to the PA. It has been about criminalizing the PA and Palestinian leadership.

The goal of this lawsuit is to make this criminality a reality, tarring literally anyone who supports or engages with the Palestinian Authority with the brush of material support for terror.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

The bottom line message here is that the entire humanitarian/civil society sector is in the crosshairs.

For background, see my Jan 2019 piece laying out the various parts of this lawfare assault — this latest is just the continuation of the escalation.

forward.com/opinion/417058…

Two more points worth adding:

(1) According to PACER, this case was initiated by Abrams on Feb 20, 2018. At that time the PLO mission was still open in DC and the Taylor Force Act was not yet law.

(2) On 5/9/19 - more than a year after this suit was filed, Abrams filed under FARA as an agent of the International Legal Forum, an Israeli lawfare org that works closely (according to media reports) with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

s3.amazonaws.com/fara2.opensecr…

Also worth noting: the Israeli lawfare org Shurat Hadin was a key player advocating for the Taylor Force Act.

israellawcenter.org/%D0%B1%D0%B5%D…

Shurat Hadin was also reportedly the driving force behind ATCA - washingtonpost.com/world/middle_e…

Not to suggest these groups are all working together - no idea if that is the case.

Point is that we are seeing a far-reaching, multi-front assault on all things related to the Palestinians.

& like with ATCA, the implications of this assault reach far beyond the Palestinians,

Also: this case is testing whether court will (further) broaden definition of material support for terror to include working with an entity that is NOT designed by the USG as a terror org (not an FTO, not on any OFAC list)...

...the implications of this (if the court were to agree) are staggering, given efforts by groups like NGO Monitor & Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs to label virtually entire Palestinian NGO/civil society sector as linked to terror.

That of course is a typo - Abrams alleges that *Oxfam* [not his own org, TZAC] is anti-Israel, based on NGO Monitor quote.