The Trump administration is siding with the Palestine Liberation Organization in urging the Supreme Court to reject an appeal from American victims of terrorist attacks in the Middle East more than a decade ago.
The victims are asking the high court to reinstate a $654 million verdict against the PLO and Palestinian Authority in connection with attacks in Israel in 2002 and 2004 that killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more.
After an appeals court said offices the Palestinians maintain in Washington were not sufficient to allow a lawsuit in an American court, the Justice Department said it agrees.
An official decision to reject the appeal could come as early as Monday. If the court decides to hear the case, it could say so by the middle of this month.
If the appeals court decision is left in place, it would close the courthouse door to US victims of “many acts of terrorism overseas in which terrorists maim and kill indiscriminately, without regard to nationality,” says Theodore Olson, a lawyer for the victims.
The administration says it is “far from clear” that so many claims would be kept out of court.
— AP
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