WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Friday ordered Iran to pay $25 million plus interest to the family of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman, who was kidnapped and executed by Hamas in 1994. Wachsman was a 19-year-old U.S. citizen and Israeli army corporal when he was taken by four members of Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States. His abduction damaged Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations at the time, as he pleaded on videotape for his life. Wachsman's mother and six brothers filed the lawsuit in 2006 against Iran and its ministry of information and security, saying Tehran was responsible for the death because it provided training and support to Hamas. Iran has refused to respond to the lawsuit, resulting in a default judgment in favor of Wachsman's family. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina awarded $5 million to Wachsman's mother and $2.5 million to each brother for their emotional distress, and $5 million to Wachsman's estate for his potential lost earnings and the pain and suffering he endured for six days while he was held hostage before being executed. The court also ruled that Iran should pay 6 percent annual interest from the date of Wachsman's murder nearly 15 years ago. .................. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090327/ap_on_re_us/hamas_iran_lawsuit I feel sorry for the killed US citizen. But how many judges in US feel sorry and are ready to award payment of millions if not billions of $ to the Palestinians who got killed by US provided arms to Israel? 25bln $ will be probably quite a small figure. Judgements like this serve nobody. Some people unfortunately are focused too much on the $ signs and miss to see the whole picture.
I wonder how much will be awarded to the family of mossadegh and the average iranian citizen from 1953 when democracy was destroyed there?