Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terrorists
Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terroristsWagdi Ashtiyeh/Flash 90

The landmark $1 billion New York court case against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on terrorism charges will be held as planned, after the rare appeal the two organizations filed this month in an attempt to stall the trial was overruled.

The appeal, a writ of mandamus, was thrown out by presiding judge Judge George Daniels, who ruled that the trial will move forward as established in a landmark November 20 ruling, which paved the way for the PA and PLO to be tried for terrorism conducted by their members during the intifada.

Shurat Hadin (Israel Law Center) is helping represent 11 families in the trial who charge the PA and PLO of inciting, supporting, planning and executing seven terror attacks which killed American citizens between 2000 and 2004.

Jury selection for the case will begin on January 7, and the trial will launch on January 12, marking the first time the two organizations are put on trial. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2004.

"Eleven courageous American families are emphatically standing up to terrorism. We are very pleased that the Court has yet again rejected the defendants’ incessant efforts to delay their day of reckoning," said Kent Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter, who is representing the victims.

Yalowitz added "the evidence is very strong, and we are looking forward to presenting it to the jury at trial beginning January 12. After so many delays by the defendants, we look forward to finally presenting our case."

Shurat Hadin director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who also is working on the case, remarked "for over a decade the defendants have tried every tactic in the book to obstruct and avoid their inevitable date with a New York jury, which will finally hear the shocking evidence of their involvement in the terror attacks that left so many Americans dead or wounded."

"We are glad the judge determined the trial will move forward so those who lost their children in the Hebrew University cafeteria bombing and other PLO terrorist attacks can finally have their day in court," added Darshan-Leitner.