US Court Voids $665M 'Blackmail' Suit Against Palestine Govt

A U.S. appeals court threw out a US$655.5 million lawsuit brought by U.S. families against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization for damages suffered by them in attacks that took place in Israel between 2002 and 2004.

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By a 3-0 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge was mistaken in concluding he had jurisdiction over the case. The appeals court ordered that the civil lawsuit, which began in January 2004, be dismissed.

While he condemned the attacks against the civilians as “unquestionably horrific," Judge John Koeltl wrote for the appeals court that the attacks occurred outside of U.S. territory and thus “federal courts cannot exercise jurisdiction in a civil case beyond the limits prescribed by the due process clause of the Constitution.”

The appeals court added that the trial judge, George Daniels, erred in letting the case proceed at all while there was no evidence that U.S. citizens were targeted.

Palestinian officials hailed the decision and said the lawsuit was a form of blackmail against the Palestinian government.

"This is a Palestinian victory that should not be underestimated and it is a big blow to anyone who attempts to blackmail us," Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said in an interview. "We have drawn a red line under it."

Gassan Baloul, a lawyer for the defendants, said in an email to Reuters they were gratified with the court's findings on jurisdiction.

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The 10 families had sued under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which lets U.S. victims of international terrorism sue in U.S. courts. In February 2015, after a six-week trial, a federal jury in Manhattan awarded the families US$218.5 million, which was tripled automatically to US$655.5 million under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The families had sought to hold the Palestinian Authority and PLO liable for six shootings and bombings between 2002 and 2004 in the Jerusalem area, which killed 33 people, including several U.S. citizens.

They have been attributed to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian ruling party Fatah. The families claimed late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and his officials routinely arranged for payments to attackers and to families of attackers who died.

But the defendants have said they condemned the attacks and blamed them on rogue employees who acted on their own.

The U.S. provides more than US$3.5 billion in yearly aid to the state of Israel and is looking to increase that number by at least US$1 billion. It regards Israel as its most important ally in the Middle East, which comes at the expense of Palestinian rights and self-determination.