Jury Finds Palestinian Authority liable for attacks against Americans

"Now the Palestinian Authority knows there is a price for sending suicide bombers to our malls, to our cafes and blowing our buses up, and we will pursue and will make sure that the PA will pay every dollar"
Israel Law Center attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner

Following two half-days of deliberations, a US jury found Palestinian authorities liable for six terror attacks in Jerusalem that killed and injured Americans, awarding victims and their families $218.5 million in damages.  The trial, under US district judge George Daniels in New York  lasted over  five weeks. Under the US anti-terrorism act, the damages are automatically tripled, with the  Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ultimately liable for over $650 million in damages. 

The 12-member jury decided unanimously that the PA and PLO were liable on 25 separate counts connected to attacks at  Hebrew University, in Jaffa Road, King George Street, against the number 19 bus and in French Hills. The six attacks killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more  between January 2002 and January 2004. The terror attacks were carried out by Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades during the second Palestinian intifada against Israel.