Schumer: Feds Should Stay out Of Well-Deserved Legal Decision Requiring Palestinian Authority And PLO To Pay Millions Of Dollars To US Victims Of Terrorist Attacks Abroad

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the State Department to not interfere in a court case where the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to pay $655.5 million in reparations for terrorist attacks involving U.S. citizens.

Mark Sokolow, the lead plaintiff in the case, took his family on a trip to Israel and was injured when a suicide bomber attacked a crowded public area on Jaffa Street. The Sokolow family, from Long Island, is one of a group of victims using the Antiterrorism Act of 1990 to sue the PLO and PA for sponsoring the attack. This legislation allows victims of international terrorism to seek justice in a U.S. court of law.

In February, the New York jury found the PLO and PA culpable for several terrorist attacks between 2001 to 2004 that killed 33 people and injured hundreds; the jury ordered the multi-million judgement. Legal experts expect the PLO and PA will appeal this decision, and the United States is currently weighing whether or not to submit a Statement of Interest in the case. Schumer is urging the feds to refrain from taking any action regarding the civil lawsuit.

"We have the Antiterrorism Act for a reason and that's to hold accountable dangerous entities for repugnant acts of terrorism. In this case, the judge and jury found the Palestinian Authority and the PLO guilty in an attack that maimed and killed dozens, including our fellow Americans, and they levied a well-founded and justified damage award for the victims. I am urging the U.S. to not intervene in the jury's decision, which holds the Palestinian Authority accountable for several acts of terrorism that killed 33 and injured hundreds. The Court's authority should be respected and the victims of these horrific attacks should be allowed to secure some measure of justice for the mindless violence they have already suffered," said Schumer.

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