Commentary Magazine..
16 August '15..
Last February, a jury in a Federal Court in New York gave American victims of terrorism a measure of justice. The verdict in the case, which had been brought by Shurat HaDin — The Israel Law Center — held the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority responsible acts of terrorism during the Second Intifada in which several Americans were killed and wounded. The fact that the group that the U.S. government considers to be the “moderates” among the Palestinian political factions was found to have blood on their hands is in and of itself disturbing. But far more troubling was the reaction of the Obama administration to the ruling. Rather than take some satisfaction that the U.S. judicial system was providing some satisfaction to the victims and their families after so much suffering, the Obama administration is weighing in on the case in order to ensure that the perpetrators get away with it. The Justice Department, as well as the State Department, have asked the presiding judge not to require the PA to post, as the law requires, a significant bond, in order to appeal the judgment. In doing so, the government is intervening in such a way as to help the guilty party evade their responsibility in the hope that the higher courts will let them off the hook. This is not only a terrible injustice to the victims. It also bodes ill for any future cases against Iranian-backed killers as well as the future of an American foreign policy that seems to have gone soft on terrorists.
The facts of the case against the PA and the PLO are clear. Fatah terrorists acting under the orders and with the funding of the PA and its leader Yasir Arafat carried out a serious of atrocities that killed and wounded not only Israelis but also many American citizens. The instances under question involved suicide bombings at the cafeteria of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as on a crowded bus stop, on a bus and in a street. Under the authority of the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act, which allows American citizens to sue those responsible for terror in American courts, the Israel Law Center and its American legal partners hauled the PA into court where a jury not only correctly found it responsible for the murder of four Americans and injuries inflicted on others but awarded the plaintiffs $218.5 million. Under the provision of the law that triples damages when terrorism is involved, that amounts to a judgment requiring the PA to hand over $655.5 million to the victims or their estates.
But the Obama administration isn’t happy about this. They are worried that forcing the PA to pay for its crimes will harm its financial standing and even cause it to go bankrupt. As the New York Times reports:
The filing also included a declaration by Antony J. Blinken, the deputy secretary of state, elaborating on the government’s concerns about the impact of requiring a high bond. Depriving the Palestinian Authority of “a significant portion of its revenues would likely severely compromise the P.A.’s ability to operate as a governmental authority,” he wrote.
“A PA insolvency and collapse would harm current and future U.S.-led efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he added.
The filing went on to state that the government supports the right of victims to sue for compensation and that it wasn’t taking a position on the case. But that is utterly disingenuous. By intervening in this manner, the administration is seeking to influence both the trial judge and the appellate courts. Given the leeway that the courts have shown themselves prepared to grant the executive branch when it comes to issues relating to foreign policy, this is an ominous development that may result in a denial of justice to the victims.
Is the administration’s argument about PA insolvency valid?
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