The U.S. government must decide by this Friday if it will support attempts by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the PLO to overturn a $174 million judgment awarded to the family of an American citizen who was killed in a 2002 Palestinian terrorist attack in Israel. To date, the United States has taken the right course by refusing to shield those responsible for terrorist attacks on American citizens from the financial damages awarded in U.S. courts to their victims and their families. Any effort by the administration to support attempts to overturn such judgments would be a blow to U.S. efforts to deter terrorism and unfair to the families of the victims.

ACTION
Call the White House TODAY at (202) 456-1414 and urge them to stand with the victims of terror and not the perpetrators. Tell the administration not to interfere in the $174 million judgment against the PLO.

TALKING POINTS

U.S. government intervention in this case would undercut judgments handed down through our judicial process, undermine the rule of law and send the emerging Palestinian government the wrong message about the importance of fighting terrorism.

Any U.S. government efforts to provide “immunity” to the PA from such lawsuits would undermine the very purpose of the Antiterrorism Act of 1990 – to hold terrorists and their sponsors accountable.

Such action also would abridge the rights of individuals to seek justice in the courts and potentially deny damages to the families of the victims.

U.S. support for Palestinian efforts to overturn the judgments also would undermine America’s strong and principled fight against terrorism and be inconsistent with our core values.

Nine Senators, led by Arlen Specter (R-PA), have sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking that the government not interfere with the victim’s legal rights to seek justice in U.S. courts. Signatories to the letter include Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Dole (D-NC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
_