Published on ASIL (https://www.asil.org)

Home > U.S. Jury Finds Palestinian Groups Liable for Terrorism (February 23, 2015)

U.S. Jury Finds Palestinian Groups Liable for Terrorism (February 23, 2015) [1]

Blog Name: 
International Law in Brief [2]
Author: 
Monica Moyo

On February 23, 2015, a jury in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan, New York, found [3] in Sokolow v. Palestine Liberation Organization the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority liable [4] for supporting six terrorist attacks that wounded or killed several Americans, among other victims, in Israel in the early 2000s. The jury awarded victims US$215 million in damages, and the amount is expected to be tripled as the Anti-Terrorism Act [5], under which the suit commenced, allows a successful plaintiff to recover “threefold the damages he or she sustains and the cost of the suit, including attorney’s fees.” One report [6] describes the case, which began in 2004, as “one of the most notable attempts by American victims of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to use U.S. courts to seek damages” and a “setback” for Palestinians seeking “to rally international support for their independence and to push for war crime charges against Israel.” The Anti-Terrorism Act allows American “victims of U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations to seek compensation for pain and suffering, loss of earnings and other hardship.”


Source URL: https://www.asil.org/blogs/us-jury-finds-palestinian-groups-liable-terrorism-february-23-2015

Links
[1] https://www.asil.org/blogs/us-jury-finds-palestinian-groups-liable-terrorism-february-23-2015
[2] https://www.asil.org/blog-name/international-law-brief
[3] http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/complaintPAPLO.pdf
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/nyregion/damages-awarded-in-terror-case-against-palestinian-groups.html
[5] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2333
[6] http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PLO_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT