Jerusalem / Brussels / New York - December 19, 2001.... The World Committee for Justice and Peace (WCJP) will be filing charges tomorrow (December 20) of murder, incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity, in Brussels, against Yasser Arafat and 19 other leaders of the PLO / PA.

The World Committee for Justice and Peace is presently representing over 20 victims of international terrorism in this legal action.

WCJP is also currently collecting evidence against terrorist Osama Bin Laden and leaders of terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
The World Committee for Justice and Peace is a non-profit, non-governmental, humanitarian organization, which represents the legal rights of global terror victims.

World Committee for Justice and Peace in the News

Second Anti-Palestinian Terror Suit Filed in Belgium
By Amanda Ruth Thomas
The Jerusalem Post

JERUSALEM (December 21) - The World Committee for Justice and Peace yesterday filed the second suit in two months charging Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and 35 other leaders of the PLO/PA of murder, incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity.

"We have gone to Brussels with a suitcase full of hundreds of pages and dozens of videos," said WCJP vice president Joel Leyden. "It's enough to bury the investigators for days."

The year-old organization comprises Jewish and non-Jewish attorneys in Israel, Europe, and the United States, and represents 19 victims of terror from Israel, the US, France, and Argentina. The case spans 27 years of Palestinian terrorism, from the 1974 massacre in Ma'alot to the French Hill bus bombing on November 4, 2001.

One of the plaintiffs, Yitzhak Ben-Yishai, of Betar Illit, lost his daughter, Shoshana, 16, who was fatally shot on her way home from the Beit Shulamit School in Neveh Ya'acov. Ben-Yishai said his other three children are receiving counselling from the international youth organization, Kids for Kids, and the family is receiving support from the National Insurance Institute.

WCJP vice president Joel Leyden said, however, that social services help is not enough for these families. "These people need proper counselling," he said. "Many victims are looking for justice and compensation." Leyden said the suit is firstly a criminal case, and that the second stage would be ensuring the civil rights of the plaintiffs.

One of three lawyers representing the WCJP case, Belgian Johan Scheers, said yesterday the case had been passed on to the prosecution by the investigative judge. Scheers added that he would know within days whether or not the court would proceed with the suit.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio reported yesterday that the suit of the Terror Victims Association, filed against Arafat and the PA at the end of November, had been rejected by the Belgian court. This was denied by TVA director Meir Indor.

The Belgian attorney-general had expressed his opinion that the case be dismissed, said Indor, but Investigative Magistrate Patrick Collignion had not made a decision. Indor quoted Yves Oshinsky, the Belgian lawyer who filed the TVA's case, as confirming that no opinion has yet been expressed.

Another lawyer in the WCJP case, Roland Roth, said however, that Scheers had been informed by Collignion that he has in fact dismissed the case, and that the WCJP would therefore need to file its own suit with a different judge.

Roth explained that Collignion had taken his initiative from the attorney-general, and that the case would now be fall to the appeals court, to be heard sometime in January.

Roth said that, although the procedure could be repeated with the WCJP case, he is optimistic that it will be taken further. "It will be much harder for them to reject our case," he said,"because we have so much evidence."

Leyden agreed: "Only government pressure would block us."

Collignion recently dismissed the suit of Palestinian plaintiffs against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, charging him with war crimes regarding the Sabra and Shatilla massacre of 1982.

Israeli Children Who Lost Legs to Terror to Show Solidarity with America Available for Interviews on Terrorism in Washington and New York

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2001 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Committee for Justice and Peace (WCJP) is leading a delegation of Israeli terror attack victims to the United States to show solidarity with American victims of terror. The delegation, which will include three victims in wheelchairs (two of whom are 9- and 12-year-old sisters), will be attending the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Washington, D.C. from November 10-13th. The conference will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (next to the Woodley Park metro).

Following the UJC Conference the delegation will be available for interviews in the New York area.

Joel Leyden, president of Leyden Communications (Israel) and Vice President/Israeli spokesman of the WCJP, has confirmed that the following Israeli terror victims with their families will be attending:

Tehila Cohen, 9 years-old, has lost both legs.
Orit Cohen, 12 years-old from Kfar Darom. Both sisters lost their legs in a terrorist mortar attack on their school bus. Wheelchairs and 24-hour support by parents -- Mr. Ofir Cohen accompanying.
Genon Michal, 24 years-old. From Hadera, was injured in an attack on a bus in Hadera, Nov. 22, 2000. She lost both feet, no prosthetic, remains in a wheelchair.
The World Committee is a non-profit, non-governmental, humanitarian organization, which represents the legal rights of global terror victims. "We felt it was our responsibility to be at this most appropriate event, held at a critical time to create awareness of these tragic events at the UJC's General Assembly," said Pierre Benichon, president of WCJP. "We represent dozens of victims of Islamic extremist terror who have been killed or injured in terrorist attacks perpetrated by several terrorist organizations and individuals including Yassar Arafat and Osama bin Laden. We are coming to Washington and New York to share our knowledge of these terror attacks, legal means for addressing them, to provide support to the victims and express our solidarity with the people of the United States."

The Committee has set for itself the following goal: to defend human rights and combat disruptions to peace amongst men by means of the international justice system. The Committee is convinced that the battle for a peaceful and stable world must begin in the court of law. Furthermore, the Committee strongly supports the United States counterterrorist policy which clearly states that terrorists are criminals and we must "pursue them aggressively, and apply the rule of law." The Committee, will pursue the above stated goals by way of donations, be they monetary or human resources.

Victims speak English and will be accompanied by translators. To arrange an interview, please contact Joel Leyden at email: terrorvictims@leyden.net.