Wiesenthal Center: Jury’s Award to PLO’s Victims Opens New Front in War Against Terrorism

The Simon Wiesenthal Center hailed today’s decision by a jury to award $218.5 million to American victims of Palestinian terrorism.

“Americans have sent a message today to the PLO, Palestinian Authority, and other groups supporting and abetting terrorism, that there is aprice to pay for such actions,” said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the leading Jewish human rights NGO. “Today’s decision sends an explicit messageto the Palestinian leadership, that they cannot have it both ways. They are either committed to building a state that is committed to living in peace with its Jewish neighbor, or will be exposedfor their support and held accountable for horrific acts of terrorism,” they added.

“We also hope that today’s decision in a US Court will create a precedent that will enable other American victims of terrorists around theworld to go after the food chain of terrorism, the scourge of the 21st century,” Hier and Cooper concluded.

Wiesenthal Center officials are available for comment. To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact the Center's PublicRelations Department, 310-553-9036.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in theUnited States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).