A U.S. jury on Monday found the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority liable for supporting terrorist attacks in Israel during the Second Intifada more than a decade ago that killed dozens of people. Jurors in Manhattan federal court awarded $218.5 million in damages to 10 American families who brought the case, a sum that is automatically tripled to $655.5 million under a 1992 U.S. anti-terrorism law, lawyers for the families said. Both defendants said they would appeal. It is unclear whether the plaintiffs can ever collect, though their lawyers vowed to seek out Palestinian assets to satisfy the judgment. The plaintiffs' lawyers called the jury's decision a win in the fight against terrorism. "It's about accountability," attorney Kent Yalowitz said. "It's about justice." The verdict was the second in less than a year in which a U.S. jury found defendants liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which lets U.S. citizens injured by acts of international terrorism pursue damages in federal court. Last September, a federal jury in Brooklyn found Arab Bank Plc liable for providing material support to Hamas. A separate trial to determine damages is scheduled for this year. The verdicts could bolster efforts by American victims to hold foreign entities responsible in U.S. courts for overseas attacks. A 12-member jury on Monday found the PLO and the Palestinian Authority liable over six shootings and bombings between 2002 and 2004 in the Jerusalem area and which have been attributed to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas. The attacks killed 33 people, including several U.S. citizens, and injured more than 450. "Now the PLO and the PA know there is a price for supporting terrorism," said attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center. The PLO and the Palestinian Authority have faced similar lawsuits in the past but this was by far the largest judgment entered against the defendants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision "determines the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority for the murderous terrorist attacks of the previous decade. "Instead of drawing the requisite lesson, the Palestinian Authority is advancing steps that endanger regional stability such as the hypocritical application to the International Criminal Court even as it is allied with the Hamas terrorist organization. We expect the responsible elements in the international community to continue to punish those who support terrorism just as the U.S. federal court has done and to back the countries that are fighting terrorism. "Today as well we remember the families that lost their loved ones; our heart is with them and there is no justice that can console them." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the decision "a moral victory for Israel and victims of terrorism." The plaintiffs had requested more than $350 million of damages, or more than $1 billion after tripling. They provided evidence that late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and his agents routinely arranged for attackers to be paid, kept them on Palestinian payrolls and made payments to families of attackers who died. Jurors, who deliberated for less than two days, heard dramatic testimony from relatives of people killed and survivors who never fully recovered. One, Rena Sokolow, described how a family vacation to Israel in 2002 turned to tragedy with a bomb blast outside a Jerusalem shoe store. The Long Island woman testified that blood flowed so quickly from a broken leg she thought she would die.
US jury finds Palestinian groups liable for terror attacks
Manhattan federal court holds PLO, PA responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel during Second Intifada • 10 American families awarded $218.5 million in damages, a sum that is automatically tripled to $655.5 million under 1992 U.S. anti-terrorism law.
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