The Palestinian Authority says it will appeal a ruling by the U.S. Federal District Court in New York awarding $655.5 million to 10 American families who were victims of terror.
The Court held the PA and PLO civilly and financially responsible for six bombing attacks carried out by Palestinians in Israel between 2002 and 2004. All 10 families were direct victims or related to those who were killed in the attacks.
Responding to the verdict, PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi immediately said the entities would “appeal the ruling.”
According to a translation of the remarks by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), Ashrawi said, “We will appeal the ruling, and we wholeheartedly believe that we will win the appeal.” She said the PLO and the PA “had absolutely nothing to do with these actions” and said “We were denied [the status] known as ‘sovereign immunity] to which we are entitled as a sovereign state.” Moreover, she said, “The PA and the PLO lack the funds necessary to pay.”
Lack of funds – given the billions of dollars with which the Palestinian Authority has been blessed by the European Union, the United States, the various Arab nations and even the State of Israel – is a disingenuous claim.
It is particularly silly in light of the millions spent in faithful, generous monthly salaries provided to murderous terrorists incarcerated in Israeli jails. Payments to PA terrorists in Israeli jails are scaled in accordance with the length of their sentences and the amount of damage they wreaked upon their victims.
“The recent ruling of the American court… sets a dangerous precedent that contradicts international law,” claimed Issa Karake, a member of the PA parliament and director of the PA Prisoners’ Affairs Commission. “[It is] forbidden to deal with or appear before these courts, since their objective is to harm the PLO’s standing.” The remark is worthy of one that might have been stated by Iran or Syria.
More reasonable – and more accurate — was a statement by economic expert Dr. Nasser Abd Al-Karim, who warned bluntly, “If the ruling goes into effect after the appeal, it will be final, and it will be obligatory to pay.
“Even if the PA does not pay, it will represent a liability for it and it may encounter difficulties in performing financial transactions and transfers, or in opening bank accounts in the international banking system.”