Another Federal Court that gets it
This is a real shocker. Two decisions in the same day out of California that make sense. The 9th Circuit is notorious for its liberal off the wall opinions, but it is correct in rejecting this lawfare case by those supporting enemies of the US and Israel. The bulldozers were very effective in dealing with the terrorist infrastructure of the Palestinians.Saying its role was not to criticize US policy towards Israel, an American federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit on Monday charging that Caterpillar bulldozers aided killing and torture in the Palestinian territories.
Relatives of 16 Palestinians and one American killed or injured by Israeli demolitions sued the heavy construction machine manufacturer. They alleged that by selling bulldozers used to demolish Palestinian homes, Caterpillar was responsible for war crimes, cruel and inhumane punishment and other violations.
The US government paid for the bulldozers, which were transferred to the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF sometimes uses engineering vehicles in operations aimed at curbing Palestinian militant activity.
A lower court dismissed the suit and the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals backed that decision, saying that to render a judgment on the matter would interfere with American foreign policy.
"It is not the role of the courts to indirectly indict Israel for violating international law with military equipment the United States government provided and continues to provide," Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote for a three-judge panel.
"The executive branch has made a policy determination that Israel should purchase Caterpillar bulldozers," the decision said. "A court could not find in favor of the plaintiffs without implicitly questioning, and even condemning, United States foreign policy toward Israel."...
Its interesting to see how a legal move that is questionable at best, launched against capitalists to make them responsible for what people do with their products, is being applied internationally to acheive the same paralysis of a capatalist entity (or at least drain cash from it for not acting totalitarianly in vetting its customers).
ReplyDeletejust as conservative thinkers have stated, the legal idea of this is a wacky can of worms looking for a place to keep happening.
can you hold a fertility clinic responsible for helping birth a person who later committed murder?
other cases have been that a supermarket and a knife manufacturere were almost held responsible because of what someone did with a knife purchased at the store.
and the biggest cases that have had mixed success is to hold those that sell guns, and those that make guns responsible for what happens with them.
i would suggest to those lawyers out there wishing to make a real big buck to focus onthis. when something like this goes thrugh, then you hold all car manufacturers laible for all crimes in the past 100 years committed with the assistance of their vehicles.
then move on to potentially holding democratic progressive communist lefitists responsible for their polices outcomes..