Palestinian groups ask Supreme Court to pause payments to U.S. Intifada victims
The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization have filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a $655.5 million legal judgment. The award stems from a long-running lawsuit involving American victims of attacks during the Second Intifada.
Why it matters
This case highlights the ongoing legal and diplomatic complexities regarding the liability of foreign governing bodies for acts of terrorism under U.S. law.
Hear this story WASHINGTON – In April, it looked like Mark Sokolow would finally get the relief he'd been waiting for for 22 years. He'd visited Jerusalem in January 2002 during the Second Intifada, and a suicide bomber's attack left him, his wife and three daughters – all American citizens – severely injured.
In 2015, a New York federal court ordered the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to pay more than $650 million to Sokolow, his family and 22 other plaintiffs – American citizens who had been injured or lost a family member between the 2000 and 2005 Palestinian attacks on Israel.
The Palestinian organizations swiftly appealed, and a lower court blocked that requirement, but in March 2026, a judge reinstated the award.
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