US Court Awards Terror Victim $16M

US court awards terror victim $16m.
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 8, 2007

A federal jury awarded $16 million to a Jewish man who claimed that
Palestinian groups backed a terrorist attack in Israel in which he was
wounded, but he could get triple that amount under a law allowing US
citizens to sue organizations involved in overseas terrorism.

Moshe Saperstein was attacked in February 2002 by gunmen who sprayed
his car with AK-47 rounds, wounding him in the hand, according to
court documents. Saperstein, who has dual US and Israeli citizenship,
claimed that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation
Organization were complicit in the attack.

Another Israeli traveling in a separate car died in the attack, as did
two IDF soldiers who responded to the gunfire. One gunman was killed
and two were apprehended, with the attack ultimately blamed on the
Aksa Martyrs Brigade.

The Palestinian groups were accused of organizing, facilitating and
sponsoring attacks against Jewish civilians in Israel and parts of the
West Bank.

After the Palestinian defendants defaulted by not defending
themselves, a federal jury heard evidence this week and returned the
$16 million verdict. But under the overseas terrorism law, that amount
will likely be tripled to $48 million.

"Justice is served," said Saperstein's wife, Rachel Saperstein. "Now,
the fight begins."

The Sapersteins' attorney, Robert Josefsberg, said he would work to
identify potential Palestinian assets in the United States, Israel and
elsewhere to satisfy the judgment.

Lawyers for the Palestinian groups did contest the lawsuit on
procedural grounds - including a claim that the Palestinian Authority
and PLO were immune as a sovereign state - but withdrew after losing
those rounds.

Attempts to reach the lawyers, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark
and Lawrence W. Schilling, were not successful.

About 10 similar lawsuits are pending in the United States, said Nabil
Abuznaid, a PLO spokesman in Washington.