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Palestinians Ordered To Pay Israeli Victims Of Terrorist Attacks $218 Million

palestine terror attacks

On Monday, a U.S. jury found the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization liable for supporting terrorist attacks in Israel over ten years ago that killed dozens.

A Manhattan federal court awarded $218.5 million in damages to ten American families who brought the case. The sum is automatically tripled to $655.5 million under a 1992 anti-terrorism law, Reuters reported.

The defendants said they will appeal the case. It is not clear if the plaintiffs will ever be able to collect, although their attorneys have promised to seek out Palestinian assets to satisfy the ruling.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Kent Yalowitz” author_title=”Attorney for plaintiffs”]

It’s about accountability. It’s about justice.

[/quote]

The 12-member jury found the PLO and Palestinian Authority liable for six bombings and shootings that took place in Jerusalem between 2002 and 2004. The attacks, which killed 33 and injured more than 450 people, have been attributed to Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Washington Post reported.

The plaintiffs claimed late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and his agents arranged to pay the attackers, kept them on Palestinian payrolls and made payments to the families of killed attackers.

This is the second verdict in less than a year in which a U.S. jury found defendants liable under the 1992 Anti-Terrorism Act, which allows United States citizens hurt by acts of international terrorism to pursue damages in U.S. federal court. In September, a federal jury found Arab Bank Plc ARBK.AM liable for providing material in support of Hamas.

Israel welcomed the decision as a “moral victory,” although the Palestinians have accused the suit as being politically motivated. Lawyers for the PA said that the leadership should not be held responsible for the “crazy and terrible” attacks carried out independently by the individuals, the Australian reported.

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