EMET Proudly Supports Efforts to Bring Justice to American Victims of Palestinian Terrorism

Press Release

Sarah Stern

(202) 601-7422

sstern@emetonline.org

February 7, 2025

EMET Proudly Supports Efforts to Bring Justice to American Victims of Palestinian Terrorism

On September 16, 2018, Ari Fuld was stabbed to death at the Gush Etzion Junction in Efrat by a Palestinian terrorist, Khalil Yousef Ali Jabarin. After he was stabbed, Ari valiantly fought back, shot his assailant, but then collapsed from his wounds. Jabarin was sentenced to life imprisonment but was recently released in the hostage deal. In the meantime, Jabarin and his family received generous monthly stipends from the PLO or Palestinian Authority’s Pay for Slay program, which incentivizes terrorism against Israeli and American citizens.

EMET is proud to join an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court cases Fuld v. PLO and U.S. v. PLO. Filed Tuesday, the brief supports Miriam Fuld and other family members of victims of Palestinian terror in their attempt to seek justice in federal court.

The brief, which was joined by seventeen Jewish, pro-Israel, and civil rights organizations in total, highlights the history of the PLO and PA’s system of incentivizing and rewarding terror through its “Pay for Slay” program. By offering “martyrdom” for terrorists and financial benefits to terrorists’ families, these organizations foster a cycle of violence that directly threatens Americans, both Jewish and non-Jewish alike. This is why Congress passed laws like the Taylor Force Act of 2017 and The Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act of 2019 (“PSJVTA”), which subjects the PLO and PA to civil liability in U.S. courts for victims of Pay for Slay.

The brief supports Petitioners in arguing that the PSJVTA is constitutional because it is a fair and reasonable law that holds sponsors of terrorism accountable. Due to their extensive activities in the United States (including on college campuses and in the media), the PLO and PA can expect to be subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

Mark Pinkert, Jason Torchinsky, Erielle Davidson, and Jared Bauman from the law firm of Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak took the lead on the amicus brief, and were joined by Scott Whitman, Craig Unterberg, and Leel Sinai of Haynes Boone.

EMET is proud to join together with 16 other organizations in this critically important effort to finally bring justice to American victims of Palestinian terrorism.

EMET is a policy institute and advocacy center that specializes in the Middle East.