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| Home Front: Politix |
| Palestinians Ask U.S. To Intervene in Suits Over Terrorist Attacks |
| 2008-02-13 |
| ...and not in a good way. The State Department is considering supporting the Palestinian Authority in its quest to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments won by American victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel, according to Palestinian officials and defense lawyers involved in the cases. How about they try to avoid blowing people up so they wouldn't be in this position? Nah. Can't do that. That Resistance™ thingy, ya know... U.S. officials insist that no decision has been made regarding the complex litigation, which could force the Bush administration to choose between supporting compensation for victims of terrorism and bolstering the Palestinian government as the United States presses for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Fuck 'em, George. You're gone in 10 months so whadda you care? And you've got about as much chance of a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as I've got of hitting Powerball. Screw 'em... Testimony in Israeli courts has connected senior Palestinian leaders -- such as the late Yasser Arafat -- to specific terrorist attacks involved in the lawsuits. But Palestinian officials have argued that it makes no sense for the United States to be providing millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority while U.S. courts are threatening to bankrupt it. Oh, man! They're right! So don't send them any more money. So we've solved one part of the problem.... In response to a plea for assistance from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 13 months ago sidestepped the issue, writing that "the United States is not party to these enforcement proceedings." But in December, a U.S. federal judge asked the government whether it would get involved, creating the current dilemma for the administration. "There has been a rethinking in the State Department that I wholeheartedly welcome," said Afif Safieh, head of mission in Washington for the Palestine Liberation Organization. He said the lawsuits were "politically and ideologically motivated to drive the Palestinian Authority into bankruptcy." Geeez, that'd be...a tragedy. Victims, who will meet with top State and Justice Department officials tomorrow, said that a U.S. intervention with the courts would make a mockery of the administration's fight against terrorism. Leslye Knox, a 46-year-old mother of six children and widow of Aharon Ellis, a U.S. citizen who was killed in 2002 while singing at a bar mitzvah in Hadera, Israel, said that she has sued under a law passed by Congress in 1990 after the murder of Leon Klinghoffer by terrorists who seized the Achille Lauro cruise ship. In 2006, a federal judge ordered the PLO and the Palestinian Authority to pay Knox and other Ellis relatives nearly $174 million, but nothing has been paid while Knox has struggled to support her family. The Pali's won't pay up? Ain't that...shocking. "Now here are the wrongdoers, they come to the government, and say, 'Hey, help us,' " Knox said. "It's hard to see why the government listens to them. It makes me feel like, 'Who is on my side?' " Hate to say it, honey, but probably nobody that can do you any good... "If the State Department tips the scales of justice against the victims in order to support adjudicated terrorists, the war on terrorism will be seen throughout the world as a farce," said David J. Strachman, a Rhode Island lawyer who has spearheaded many of the lawsuits. That's pretty much it. But State ould proably see it as "Fair Play for Freedom Fighters" or something like that. The Justice Department will make the final decision, U.S. officials said. "A court has asked the U.S. government to inform it whether it is contemplating filing a statement of interest, but no decision has been made on how the U.S. government will respond," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. Yep. We'll...let ya know. The Palestinian Authority initially argued that it had sovereign immunity, meaning that as a state it was beyond the reach of the U.S. legal system. Former attorney general Ramsey Clark, who was hired to defend the Palestinians, described in a court hearing how he had to "break my neck climbing over literally rubble" of Arafat's compound in Ramallah in 2003, only to be told to ignore the cases. Ramsey almost broke his neck? Well at least something good came of this... But U.S. courts rejected the Palestinian claim of sovereign immunity, noting that Palestine is not a state. Judgments have been rendered against the Palestinians in the Knox case and a separate case brought by the children of Yaron Ungar, a U.S. citizen killed in Israel in a 1996 terrorist attack. Ungar's relatives were awarded $116 million, which the Palestinian Authority has not paid. Again, I don't think they grasp the "paying" concept... After the Ungar case, about $200,000 in two of the PLO mission's bank accounts were frozen in 2005, a situation that Safieh called a "nightmare." We could't buy hookers! We couldn't move anything to On June 18, 2005, then finance minister (and now prime minister) Salaam Fayyad wrote to Rice, urging State to intervene, saying that the Ungar lawsuit was a "serious obstacle" to effective Palestinian participation in peace talks and was inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy. I get it, Salaam. Blackmail? Right? Well, most Americans could give a damn about Palestinian peace, so why don't you pay up, okay? Abbas also wrote to Rice in November 2006, after another court froze more than $100 million in retirement funds for Palestinian workers that were being managed in the United States. Dammit! Think of how many Gaza retirees were screwed outta their chances to buy cheap Egyptian motorcycles and knockoff cartons of Marlboro's! And cement! Rice responded with a neutral letter. She noted that the Ungar case had gone all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to review it, so "the judgment is final and enforceable in United States courts." She suggested that the Palestinian Authority explore "out of court solutions so as to avoid enforcement actions." Good luck. Let us know how you make out. Love, Condi... With a new set of lawyers -- Richard A. Hibey and Mark J. Rochon of the Washington firm Miller & Chevalier -- the Palestinian Authority last year said the Knox judgment should be nullified because the authority was now prepared to litigate the case and offer a vigorous defense. So I take it Ramsey's no longer their lawyer? Citing Rice's letter to Abbas, the new legal team urged U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero to request a "statement of interest" from State because of the "international ramifications." The primary one being there'll be no chateau in the south of France for these lawyers if they lose this case. Good luck getting paid by the way, boys... "The judgment's potential interference with American foreign policy presents a unique and exceptional circumstance justifying relief from a default judgment," the lawyers argued. Yes, I'm sure interference with American foreign policy is at the forefront of their concerns... Marrero in December issued an order asking whether the United States contemplated issuing a statement of interest in the case. He gave the government 45 days to respond, but at the government's request, he recently extended the deadline until the end of February. I think I know how it's gonna go, but it's nice to see State at least make the scumbags sweat... |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #8 Ramsey Clarke is still alive? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-02-13 23:32 |
| #7 So Yasser Arafat hired Ramsey Clarke to not fight the cases, and once the Palestinian Authority lost, they demand a do-over with their friends at the State Department ensuring that it goes as it ought? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-02-13 22:54 |
| #6 "It's a matter of current litigation, and the US government is taking a look at what, if anything, it will do in terms of offering a statement of interest," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. No decision has been taken, he said. "Look, we are absolutely committed to defending the rights of our citizens. We are also fully committed to pursuing our national interest and defending our national interest," he said. Ya mean...there's a difference? "At this point, I don't have anything to offer in terms of a decision one way or another on this particular issue. We'll keep you apprised in the coming days if there's any change," he added. Woah! Look out!! Hot Potato!!! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-13 16:15 |
| #5 Somebody eventually wins the powerball jackpot. I don't believe the paleos will eventually become sensible and peaceable... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2008-02-13 15:26 |
| #4 How many State Dept. officials immediately bent over after the PA's request? |
| Posted by: danking70 2008-02-13 15:24 |
| #3 "Fuck you, pay me." -- Goodfellas |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-02-13 15:15 |
| #2 The victims should sue the U.S., European governments and the U.N. for propping up the Palestinian Authority. Go for the deep pockets and the people who are really responsible anyway. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-02-13 15:10 |
| #1 I don;'t understand why there should be any consideration for a decision too be made. 1. It's not like they will ever pay any of the money anyway. |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-02-13 15:00 |