While defending itself against a lawsuit brought by United States victims of terrorism, the Palestinian Liberation Organization has openly said that it is still at war with Israel, 15 years after the beginning of the Oslo peace accords. The PLO has called on a US court to dismiss the case against it, claiming terrorist attacks committed from 2001 to 2004 constitute “acts of war” under American law.
Claimants are suing the PLO for damages regarding seven terrorist attacks, six of which took place in Jerusalem. The claimants say they are allowed to sue the PLO in a US court due to the 1991 Antiterrorism Act, which allows American citizens to bring foreign bodies to court over attacks committed by their agents. The seven attacks in question were committed by employees of the PLO.
The PLO used the “acts of war” defense in hopes of having the case thrown out of court due to lack of jurisdiction. The term “act of war” refers to “any attack occurring in the course of... armed conflict between military forces of any origin,” PLO representatives said.