Share
Email
PrintJudge: Terrorism not ‘act of war
A U.S. judge allowed a lawsuit against the PLO to go forward, saying acts of terror cannot be defined as “acts of war.”
George Daniels of the Manhattan District Court on Tuesday dismissed claims by lawyers for the Palestine Liberation Organization that attacks committed between 2001 and 2004 were “acts of war” and immune from tort action. The ruling will allow a $3 billion lawsuit filed by victims and their families to go to trial.
Daniels wrote in his ruling that the attacks targeted “non-combative civilians who were allegedly simply going about their everyday lives” and “do not constitute acts of war.” At least 33 people were killed in the attacks at a Hebrew University cafeteria, on Jerusalem streets and on buses.
The attacks suggested a “merciless capability of indiscriminately killing and maiming untold numbers in heavily populated civilian areas,” he wrote.
Earlier this year, plaintiffs in the case overcame another hurdle when the Bush administration refrained from intervening after a judge requested its opinion as to whether the PLO and Palestinian Authority were covered by the immunity that protects foreign nations from lawsuits.
Click to login and write a letter to the editor or sign up for the Daily Briefing.
This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.
Featured Content
Need to know? Get JTA's free e-newsletters!
- Citing Palestinian conflict, rocker Cat Power cancels Tel Aviv show
- Jewish groups praise Obama contraceptives compromise
- Holder: U.S. urged Israel not to release killers of Americans
- Turkish FM: We will never endorse striking Iran
- Israeli missile defense test a ‘milestone’
- Sarkozy: Iran solution should be non-military
- Marines’ SS photo condemned by Jewish groups
- Grandson of Auschwitz survivor takes the ice for Germany
