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Lebanese
American
Civil
Rights
Group
Plans
Lawsuit
Over
Property
Loss in
Israeli
Airstrikes
Jean
Davis -
Local/State
Tell Us
Detroit
News
Bureau
DEARBORN,
Mich. -
A
Michigan-based
Arab
American
civil
rights
group
says it
plans to
file a
federal
lawsuit
against
the U.S.
government
on
behalf
of
Lebanese
Americans
whose
property
was
destroyed
during
Israeli
military
operations
in
Lebanon,
a case
that
could
test
whether
Americans
can seek
redress
when
U.S.-backed
foreign
campaigns
damage
their
assets
abroad.
The Arab
American
Civil
Rights
League,
based in
Dearborn,
announced
the
planned
suit at
its
offices,
where
community
members
with
ties to
southern
Lebanon
described
the loss
of homes
and
buildings.
“Two of
my
parents’
buildings
in Bint
Jbeil
were
destroyed.
Both of
my
grandfathers’
houses
were
destroyed,”
said
ACRL
chairman
Nasser
Beydoun.
“This is
not
abstract.
This is
not
political
rhetoric.”
ACRL
founder
Nabih
Ayad
said the
group’s
legal
argument
centers
on U.S.
financial
and
military
support
for
Israel
during
the
conflict.
Zeina
Djurovski,
another
ACRL
member,
said,
“Our
home was
gone. A
bomb was
dropped
on it.
It was
reduced
to
rubble.”
The
lawsuit
comes
amid
allegations
by human
rights
groups
of
widespread
and
possibly
unlawful
destruction
across
southern
Lebanon.
Amnesty
International
said
more
than
10,000
structures
were
heavily
damaged
or
destroyed
between
Oct. 1,
2024,
and Jan.
26,
2025,
much of
it after
a Nov.
27
ceasefire.
The
World
Bank
estimated
the
war’s
total
economic
cost to
Lebanon
at $14
billion,
including
$6.8
billion
in
damage
to
physical
structures.
Amnesty
also
said its
researchers
found
evidence
of
deliberate
destruction,
including
videos
and
photos
showing
Israeli
soldiers
placing
explosives
in
homes,
bulldozing
roads
and
parks,
and
damaging
religious
sites.
In some
videos,
soldiers
appeared
to
celebrate
the
destruction.
The
ACRL’s
legal
theory
also
points
to
American
arms
transfers.
U.S.
military
aid to
Israel
was
estimated
at $17.9
billion
in the
war’s
first
year,
and
researchers
say they
found
remnants
of a
U.S.-made
Joint
Direct
Attack
Munition
guidance
kit at
two
sites in
southern
Lebanon.
The
group is
also
setting
up a
hotline
to
document
claims
from
people
affected
by the
destruction.
Legal
experts
say the
case
will
face
major
procedural
hurdles,
but it
could
become
one of
the
first
organized
efforts
by
American
citizens
to hold
Washington
accountable
for
property
losses
tied to
foreign
military
operations
it
supported.
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