A New York lawyer known for defending terrorists says he provides legal aid to Hamas members in Gaza and elsewhere.
“I continue to represent various Palestinian movements and individuals. I have since 1995,” said Stanley Cohen, a self-described radical lawyer whose website has “Hamas on the phone.”
“I spoke with representatives of Hamas on a necessary basis for legal advice and in matters pending in international courts,” said Cohen, 70, who has also represented members of Hezbollah and Al Qaeda.
The lawyer claimed he had recently communicated with Hamas members in Gaza and abroad but declined to say when, with whom, or about what.
Hamas leaders are known to live in luxurious estates in friendly host countries.
Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for an international Jihad day to be held this week from his hideout in Qatar.
Cohen was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has left the faith.
Cohen has raised eyebrows and made enemies as a lawyer for Hamas and other prominent terrorist groups. AFP via Getty Images
“I left a long time ago because the effort to combine a 120-year-old European colonial project with a 3000-year-old belief took place,” he said.
Last week Hamas fighters stormed Israel from Gaza, killing 1,300 and taking at least 150 hostages.
Among the victims were dozens of babies, some of whom were burned alive and beheaded.
Among the dead were 27 Americans.
Cohen was unrepentant.
Cohen represents Osama Bin Laden’s son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 for conspiracy to kill Americans.AP
“Do I agree with the notion that Palestinians have the right to armed struggle, I do,” he said, calling Israeli “settlers” and soldiers “legitimate targets under international law.”
On Thursday he posted on X that a “dear friend” was killed during the fighting in Gaza.
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“A retired general, he served for many years with [late Palestine president Yasser Arafat],” he wrote.
Another tweeted image he sent in 2021 showed him smiling with former Hamas terrorist leaders Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Abu Shanab — both of whom were later killed by Israeli forces.
Cohen, who lives mostly in the Catskills but travels to New York City periodically, said he takes no money from Hamas and that his legal work for the terrorist organization is pro bono.
In 2014, Cohen was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being charged with failing to file six years worth of tax returns.
The colorful plaintiff represents Osama Bin Laden’s son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 for conspiring to kill Americans. He reps Weather Underground terrorists Kathy Boudin and Larry Davis – who shot six NYPD officers in the South Bronx in 1986.
Cohen’s work has spawned a small industry of critics, some of whom are mentioned in a special area of his website dedicated to “haters.”
“Alhamdulillah Hamas is represented by an incompetent and bigoted lawyer like Stanley Cohen. They deserve each other,” said longtime Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.
“There is a big difference between defending the constitutional rights of accused terrorists, and supporting their continued violence in an ideological way, as Cohen sees it.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
