Both groups are “deeply disappointed” by Monday’s ruling, which Palestinian Authority spokesman Mahmoud Khalifa said stemmed from “baseless” charges and “ignored the legal precedent set time and again by other U.S. courts … that established U.S. courts are not the proper jurisdiction for such a hearing.”
Khalifa expressed confidence that the PLO and Palestinian Authority will prevail in American courts during its coming appeal.
Palestinian leaders are combating “extremism and violence and maintain a strong commitment to nonviolent resistance and international legal, political and moral redress,” the spokesman added, claiming that this case doesn’t help in this regard.
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Yet this week’s decisions isn’t just about the Palestinians. Jerry S. Goldman, a lawyer for 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia and others, thinks it may help in his clients’ case as well.
“If you cut off the funding, you cut off the terror,” Goldman said. “And U.S. courts are showing that they can handle transnational terror litigation and make powerful individuals, institutions and governments who have materially supported terrorists’ pay.”
