The Supreme Court delivered a unanimous ruling on Friday, allowing victims of Palestinian terrorism to sue the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in U.S. courts.
This decision stems from the 2019 Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (PSJVTA), which Congress passed to enable terror victims to seek legal recourse against groups responsible for attacks.
The Court highlighted that the PSJVTA explicitly names the PA and PLO and states these entities “shall be deemed to have consented to personal jurisdiction” in cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1990 under two specific conditions.
The first condition concerns the PA and PLO’s practice of paying salaries to terrorists imprisoned in Israel and to families of deceased terrorists. Congress has condemned this as providing “an incentive to commit acts of terror.”
The second jurisdictional basis relates to activities conducted by the PA and PLO on U.S. soil, according to the Daily Wire.
This ruling was based on two cases. The first, Fuld et al v. Palestine Liberation Organization et al, involved Ari Fuld, a dual American-Israeli citizen and father of four, who was fatally stabbed by a 17-year-old terrorist.
The terrorist’s family received payments under the PA’s so-called “Pay for Slay” program, which compensates Palestinians convicted of terror attacks.
According to the Endowment for Middle East Truth, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs convicted in Israel for terror involvement receive monthly payments starting from arrest and continuing for life if they serve a minimum prison term—five years for men, two years for women—along with other financial benefits.
The second case represented 11 American families of victims injured or killed in terror attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004.
These families initially secured a $655 million settlement against the Palestinian government. However, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York later ruled that the PSJVTA’s personal jurisdiction provision violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
The Supreme Court rejected this view on Friday, upholding the PSJVTA’s jurisdictional provisions as constitutional.
The Court emphasized that the federal government can enact limited jurisdictional rules to ensure Americans harmed or killed by terrorist acts have a suitable forum to pursue compensation under the ATA.
Among the incidents included in the families’ case was the January 22, 2002, Jaffa Road Shooting, where a Palestinian Authority police officer fired into a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, killing two and injuring 45.
Another incident was the January 29, 2004, Bus No. 19 Bombing, where a Palestinian Authority officer detonated a suicide vest on a crowded bus, killing 11 people, including one of the plaintiffs.
The Supreme Court ruling thus affirms that families of terror victims can hold the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization accountable in American courts.
This decision marks a significant legal victory for victims seeking justice and compensation for acts of terrorism linked to the PA and PLO.
It also underlines Congress’s intent to provide legal avenues for Americans harmed by foreign terrorist groups through specific jurisdictional statutes like the PSJVTA.
The word Palestinian in some cases was created. Palestine in history tells a quite different story but who takes the time to read boring history!!!!!!!