(WXYZ) — The Arab American Civil Rights League is filing a federal lawsuit, seeking to hold corporations responsible for destruction of civilian property in south Lebanon.
Watch Simon Shayket's update below
At a press conference, stakeholders — acting on behalf of U.S. citizens with homes destroyed during the ongoing war in the Middle East — say they also want accountability from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Plaintiffs say military equipment provided by the U.S. to Israel has been used to illegally demolish properties amid fighting. More than a dozen plaintiffs are referencing a Human Rights Law, banning the Defense Department and State Department from giving money and equipment in light of alleged abuses.
“Tens of thousand of individuals in SE Michigan, being home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans outside the Middle East and the majority Lebanese Americans. They cannot sit here and watch as their tax dollars are being used to destroy their own homes, in South Lebanon," said ACRL founder Nabih Ayad.
“The complaint alleges Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Caterpillar supplied instruments despite knowing or having reason to know of an unreasonable risk or harm," said ACRL Chairman Nasser Beydoun.
The Arab American Civil Rights League is calling this a landmark civil rights case, one that seeks to address injustice through laws already on the books.
So far, there's no response from the State Department.
