The Liberty Daily 
(The Daily Signal)—The Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority lost again at the Supreme Court, this time in their effort to stop a settlement to pay American victims of attacks.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday signed an order rejecting an emergency application from the Palestinian authorities to stop a $656 million judgment in favor of Americans killed or wounded in Israel. The victims were injured or killed in attacks in Jerusalem in the early 2000s that killed 33 people and wounded hundreds.
The PLO and the Palestinian Authority argued in court filings that making the payments to victims and their families would destabilize government services in the West Bank, the Associated Press reported. They also have argued that the cases shouldn’t be allowed in American courts.
The victims and their families have claimed Palestinian agents were either involved in the attacks or incited them.
The first judgment in favor of the victims was awarded in 2015, but it was reversed on appeal when the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals determined that U.S. courts lacked jurisdiction. The Supreme Court initially rejected the plaintiffs’ appeal in 2018.
The plaintiffs then sued under the revised Anti-Terrorism Act, a 1992 law updated in 2019 to allow the victims of the Palestinian attacks to seek damages in federal courts.
The Supreme Court upheld the 2019 revisions in a 2025 ruling, affirming the victims’ right to sue and allowing the case to proceed. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court reinstated the $656 million judgment on March 30, which reversed a ruling from a decade ago, according to the Associated Press.
“We conclude that the original judgment for the plaintiffs should be reinstated. That conclusion is consistent with the plain import of the Supreme Court’s decision,” the 2nd Circuit judges said in the opinion.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Kent Yalowitz, told the AP after the appeals court ruling, “Our client families are very relieved that the court has reinstated the judgment without requiring a new trial. They have been waiting for a very long time for justice to be done.”
