A United States Federal Court in Rhode Island has handed down a $116 million verdict against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, in favor of the parents and children of Yaron Ungar and his wife, Efrat.
The Ungars were murdered in a drive-by terrorist shooting in June 1996, between Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Malachi. Yaron was an American citizen, which gave his family standing before US federal courts.
Issued late Monday, the decision upholds a judgment against the PLO and the PA from earlier this year, determining that the PA and PLO provided a safe haven and operational base for Hamas to carry out the attack. In January of this year, the court issued a similar judgment against Hamas. Hamas did not bother to contest the suit or defend itself, while the PA took an active defense, claiming that as a state entity, it was not liable to be sued in this manner. In Nov. 2002, Judge Ronald Lagueux declared for the first time in a US court that the Palestinian Authority fails to meet the criteria for statehood and cannot be granted sovereign immunity.
The PA was represented by former U.S. Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, was out of the country when the ruling was handed down. The PLO and PA are expected to appeal the verdict.
The Associated Press quoted David Strachman, the Ungars' attorney, as saying yesterday that the ruling "shows average citizens who are attacked [that they] have an avenue to use to go and punish terrorists."
Yaron Ungar and his wife Efrat, an Israeli citizen, were killed in a drive-by shooting as they drove with their two toddler sons in the back seat. The two, Yishai, now 10, and Dvir, 9, are being raised by their maternal grandparents, Rabbi Uri and Yehudit Dasberg of Gush Etzion. The Ungars' suit against the PA, PLO and Hamas charged that the PA "praised, advocated, encouraged, solicited, and incited" terrorist attacks, resulting in the deaths of the young parents. The case was filed in the U.S. four years ago under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991, which allows American victims of terrorist attacks abroad to seek damages in US courts.
The Ungars were murdered in a drive-by terrorist shooting in June 1996, between Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Malachi. Yaron was an American citizen, which gave his family standing before US federal courts.
Issued late Monday, the decision upholds a judgment against the PLO and the PA from earlier this year, determining that the PA and PLO provided a safe haven and operational base for Hamas to carry out the attack. In January of this year, the court issued a similar judgment against Hamas. Hamas did not bother to contest the suit or defend itself, while the PA took an active defense, claiming that as a state entity, it was not liable to be sued in this manner. In Nov. 2002, Judge Ronald Lagueux declared for the first time in a US court that the Palestinian Authority fails to meet the criteria for statehood and cannot be granted sovereign immunity.
The PA was represented by former U.S. Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, was out of the country when the ruling was handed down. The PLO and PA are expected to appeal the verdict.
The Associated Press quoted David Strachman, the Ungars' attorney, as saying yesterday that the ruling "shows average citizens who are attacked [that they] have an avenue to use to go and punish terrorists."
Yaron Ungar and his wife Efrat, an Israeli citizen, were killed in a drive-by shooting as they drove with their two toddler sons in the back seat. The two, Yishai, now 10, and Dvir, 9, are being raised by their maternal grandparents, Rabbi Uri and Yehudit Dasberg of Gush Etzion. The Ungars' suit against the PA, PLO and Hamas charged that the PA "praised, advocated, encouraged, solicited, and incited" terrorist attacks, resulting in the deaths of the young parents. The case was filed in the U.S. four years ago under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991, which allows American victims of terrorist attacks abroad to seek damages in US courts.