February 24, 2015 | Quote

PA and PLO Found Liable to Compensate American Victims of Terror; Future of PA Left Shaky


Though this is a win for the victims’ and their families, many speculate that the defendants will most certainly appeal the verdict. Darshan Leitner, for one, knows the will file, but she and her organization will be read for it: “when they file, their appeal, we’ll respond. I don’t think they’ll win,” she said. Grant Rumley, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies specializing in Palestinian politics, noted that this verdict provides “one victory” in what could be a “long, drawn out legal battle.”

The PLO’s and the PA’s defense lawyers argued that they did not violate the Antiterrorism Act, and that they, as governing bodies, should not be held accountable for the violent actions of criminal citizens who acted on their own accord, or under the influence of more radical militia groups like Hamas. Mark J. Rochon, one of the defense lawyers, told the jury on Thursday that he did not want “the bad guys, the killers, the people who did this, to get away while the Palestinian Authority or the PLO pay for something they did not do.”

This verdict, coupled with last September’s Brooklyn federal court ruling which found Arab Bank Plc. liable for having provided material support to Hamas, could have tense implications for Arab Israeli relations.

“There are going to be three ways this verdict impacts the Palestinians,” Rumley said. From the standpoint of the Palestinian Authority, this blow could cause even more difficulties to their already dire financial state. “The PA is strapped for cash,” he said, alluding to the [PA’s dire situation] in which they are unable to pay PA salaries and the recent Israeli move to withhold PA allocated funds.

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Issues:

Palestinian Politics