Palestinian Authority May Defend Itself in NY Courts

[New York Sun ] Joseph Goldstein - In a surprising shift, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says his government is willing to defend itself against lawsuits alleging that it is liable for acts of Palestinian Arab terrorism during the intifada. For years, the PA has refused to contest such suits, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in default judgments that the PA has refused to pay. Now, in a move that could lead to trials, Fayyad is calling on federal judges in New York and Rhode Island to throw out the default judgments and give the PA another chance to respond to civil suits filed years ago. The shift could prompt new suits against the PA. As a show of good faith, the PA this month paid off one American court judgment for $1.5 million to the owners of seized construction equipment. It is the first American court judgment that the Palestinian Arab government has paid in recent years.


2008-06-24 01:00:00

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