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US Appeals Court Tosses $654 Million Verdict Against Palestinian Authorities

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A U.S. appeals court has tossed out a $654 million jury verdict against the Palestine Liberation Organization that involved damages for Americans affected by Palestinian terror attacks but that the United States government says could financially destabilize the Palestinian government.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw out the case Wednesday. The court said the federal courts lack personal jurisdiction over the defendants.

A jury last year awarded $218 million to Americans affected by Palestinian terror attacks that have killed Americans. The award was automatically tripped under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The original verdict, made by a New York jury in 2015, found the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority were the catalysts for a series of terrorist attacks in the early 2000s in Israel that killed or wounded several Americans.

The suit against the PLO and Palestinian Authority and the other against the Jordan-based Arab Bank had languished for years as the defendants challenged the American courts' jurisdiction.

In court papers after the jury verdict, the U.S. government said that if the Palestinian Authority were to collapse, there would be a crisis impacting the security of Israelis and Palestinians and elsewhere in the region.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

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