Monday, March 03, 2008

In Palestinian Terrorism Case, State Department Does the Right Thing ... For Now   [Andy McCarthy]

Last Friday, I wrote an article about the Palestinian Authority's plea to the State Department to intervene in a federal court case against it.  A judgment of nearly $200 million has been entered against the PA and PLO in favor of victims of their terrorism, specifically, the family of an American citizen killed in a 2002 attack.

On Friday, the Justice Department advised the court that the U.S. government will not intervene in the case at this time.  The Jerusalem Post reports that government lawyers told the Court:  "The United States supports just compensation for victims of terrorism from those responsible for their losses and has encouraged all parties to resolve these cases to their mutual benefit."

Ominously, the lawyers added:  "At the same time, the United States remains concerned about the potentially significant impact that these cases may have on the financial and political viability of the defendants."  This last bit is doubtless intended to keep the pressure on the victims to settle for less — a reflection of both the administration's foolish support for the unrepentent PA (whose "moderate" leader, Mahmoud Abbas, was bragging only a week ago about the foundational role he and the PLO played in modern Islamic terrorism — including training Hizballah) and the consequent fact that, given the millions in aid we dole out to the Palestinians, it is effectively we who end up paying such judgments anyway.

But let us be thankful for now that the State Department has resisted formally intervening in the case.

03/03 05:27 AMShare