Supreme Court hands major victory to American victims of Palestinian terror
On Friday, the US Supreme Court handed down a major victory to American victims of Palestinian terror.
The petitioners in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization are the family members of Ari Fuld, an American citizen who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian at an Israeli shopping center in 2018. The Palestinian Authority (PA) paid the family of the killer NIS 1,400 (roughly $400) a month for three years as part of its “pay for slay” program.
The Fulds sued the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the international body that represents Palestinians. They cited the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (PSJVTA), a 2019 law that subjects the PA and PLO to US jurisdiction when they reward Palestinian terrorists who kill Americans or if the terrorists’ families engage in activities in the US.
However, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the PA and PLO, saying the organizations had not exhibited conduct that made them accountable in US courts. Therefore, the PSJVTA violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
A major precedent
In a unanimous ruling on Friday, the US Supreme Court overturned the appellate court’s decision. It ruled that lawsuits against the PA and the PLO for Palestinian terrorism do not violate the Fifth Amendment and can move forward.
"The PSJVTA reasonably ties the assertion of federal jurisdiction over the PLO and PA to conduct that involves the United States and implicates sensitive foreign policy matters within the prerogative of the political branches,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the ruling, emphasizing that the US has an “interest in holding accountable those who perpetrate an ‘act of violence against’ U.S. nationals—who, even when physically outside our borders, remain ‘under the particular protection’ of American law.”
The ruling is expected to revive a 2015 lawsuit brought by victims of Palestinian terror, who were awarded $655 million in damages by a jury. The Second Circuit tossed out the verdict on appeal, ruling that the PA and PLO were not subject to US jurisdiction.
"This groundbreaking ruling is an important message of justice! There are many dozens of American citizens who are victims of Palestinian terrorism, and until this ruling, they could not have their day in court,” the Fuld family said in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
