A lawsuit filed in Toronto against the Canadian Boat to Gaza and Alternatives International claims the groups are providing material support to Hamas.
The Canadian Boat to Gaza is a member of Freedom Flotilla II, a coalition of groups planning to sail to Gaza at the end of this month to break the Israeli naval embargo on the region. It is committed to "supporting the Hamas rulers of Gaza by importing and exporting goods from the terrorist-ruled territory," the complaint says.
Alternatives International, which reportedly received millions of dollars from the Canadian government, is "the self-professed fundraiser and trustee for the Canadian Boat," the lawsuit says. Backers say it is the first litigation aimed at stopping flotilla participants from continuing to raise money for the effort. It also seeks $1 million in damages.
Cherna Rosenberg, a citizen of both Canada and Israel, filed the case in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday. Rosenberg, who moved to Sderot, Israel in 2007, has been victimized by constant Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza carried out by Hamas. Sderot and surroundiung areas have been the target of rocket attacks from Hamas since 2001. The attacks have killed Israeli civilians, and have caused trauma and property damage in Sderot and the surrounding area.
Rosenberg moved from Sderot to Haifa in 2008 to escape the constant fear and anxiety that permeated her life in the region. She frequently visits her daughter and grandchildren who still live in Sderot, which is regularly accompanied by rockets falling, increasing her trauma, the lawsuit says.
"The trauma of living under Hamas rockets, whose existence is supported and facilitated by the acts of the Defendants, has made the Plaintiff's life in Israel and in Ontario a continuous trauma from which she suffers substantial personal loss," the complaint says.
Canada listed Hamas as a terrorist group in 2002. Directly providing Hamas authorities in Gaza with supplies violates the Canadian Criminal Code. The flotilla supporters "are a step in the chain of conduct that ultimately leads to the rocket attacks that have traumatized the Plaintiff and caused her much suffering and loss," the complaint says.