EMET Commends U.S. Court for Finding the Palestinian Authority Guilty of Terror Attacks that Have Killed and Wounded Americans, and Reiterates its Call for a Cessation of American Aid to the PA

EMET Commends U.S. Court for Finding the Palestinian Authority Guilty of Terror Attacks That Have Killed and Wounded Americans, and Reiterates its Call for a Cessation of American Aid to the PA

(Washington, DC February 24^th 2015) Today, the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) congratulates the American plaintiffs who succeeded in persuading a Federal jury to hold the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) liable for terrorist attacks that killed and wounded Americans, and again calls upon the U.S. Government to cease any financial support to the PA. 

On Monday, February 23, 2015, jurors in the Federal District Court of Manhattan awarded $218.5 million in damages to ten Americans and their families, who were victims of 6 terror attacks during the Second Intifada from 2002 through 2004. This award was then tripled to $655.5 million because of a provision of U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act. During the trial, it was revealed by internal PA records that the PA paid benefits to the families of suicide bombers, and continued to pay salaries to its employees convicted and imprisoned for terrorism.

This landmark ruling demonstrates that the PA, currently under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, and previously under Yasser Arafat, is not a moderate organization, but a supporter and sponsor of terrorism, and should be treated accordingly.

The PA, which refuses to make concessions for peace and regularly practices incitement against Israel and Jews, is now forgoing the U.S.-sponsored peace process. Under Abbas’ leadership, the group is bringing pressure upon Israel at the United Nations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international arenas in direct violation of its Oslo Accord promises to resolve disputes with Israel in bilateral negotiations.  The U.S. has opposed the PA bid to join the ICC; nonetheless, Secretary of State John Kerry recently expressed concern over Israel’s withholding of more than $100 million in tax revenue to the PA in response to the ICC move.

Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, there have been more than seventy-one cases of Arab Palestinian terror attacks resulting in American casualties in and around Israel.  Using only post-Oslo numbers, the number of American victims of Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) stands at 63 killed, not including two unborn children, and more than 90 wounded. This includes the 2014 deaths of two American rabbis in Jerusalem. Between 1969 and 1985, another 28 Americans were murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

EMET’s Founder and President, Sarah Stern, has spent decades working with American victims of Palestinian terrorism to achieve equal justice for them. She was one of the main initiators of the Congressional passage of the Koby Mandell Act.  Although its broad language applied to all overseas cases where Americans were harmed by terrorists, the Koby Mandell Act was especially intended to be focused on acts of terrorism alleged to have been committed by Palestinian individuals or individuals acting on behalf of Palestinian organizations.

“I hope that this judgment – and the monies that are given to the plaintiffs by the Palestinian Authority – will bring the victims and their families some measure of justice and closure after years of pain and suffering,” Sarah Stern, the founder and president of EMET said. “It is crucial that the U.S. government now build upon this legal success and bar any U.S. taxpayer dollars from being provided to the PA. If the PA wants American support, they know what they need to do: First things first. Not one penny of U.S. taxpayers’ dollars should go to the Palestinian Authority unless and until they pay out their debt to the victims and their families. For years, we have been calling on the PA to cease its unrelenting incitement to violence and support for terrorism, and now we are calling on the PA to provide complete justice for all American victims of Palestinian terrorism, as U.S. law requires,” Stern added.

About The Endowment for Middle East Truth

Founded in 2005, EMET’s mission is to educate policymakers in Washington and the general public about the importance of Israel to the United States in their common struggle against radical Islam. For more information, please visit, https://emetonline.org. Follow EMET on Twitter and Facebook.