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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/collective-punishment-us-supreme-court-greenlights-656m-judgement-against-palestinians">middleeasteye.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">'Collective punishment': US Supreme Court greenlights $656m judgement against Palestinian officials</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">MEE staff</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">August 5, 2026</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>
<img src="cid:ii_msgqi5z70" alt="image.png" width="408" height="230">
<font size="1">A A young Palestinian man walks past destroyed cars, burned by Israeli
settlers overnight, in Jalud, near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank on 4 August 2026 (Mohammed Torokman/Reuters) </font></p><p>The <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us" target="_blank">US</a>
Supreme Court has refused to freeze a $656m judgement against the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organisation
(PLO) after the two groups said they were too cash-strapped to
compensate Americans for attacks in <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a> during the Second Intifada.</p>
<p>The decision was announced on Monday by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a
liberal justice who is tasked with taking on emergency case reviews.</p>
<p>This comes 22 years after the lawsuit was first launched, and it means the collection of the funds can begin immediately.</p>
<p>In 2015, the plaintiffs, who said they were victims of attacks between 2002 and 2004, won the damages.</p>
<p>Then in 2016, the US Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the judgment
on the grounds that US courts cannot consider lawsuits against foreign
groups if the violence was not aimed at American citizens. </p><p>Last year, the supreme court revived the case by voting 9-0 to uphold
the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act passed
by lawmakers.</p>
<p>By March of this year, the US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the judgment. </p>
<p>"Congress passed special laws to make the Palestinian Authority
submit to US jurisdiction against its will if it continued to provide
families of martyred Palestinians with salaries," Raed Jarrar, advocacy
director with Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), told Middle East
Eye.</p>
<p>The PA, he added, was "forced into accepting US jurisdiction [and it's] really unprecedented". </p>
<p>The PA and PLO have said that a $656m payout would destabilise their
governing abilities in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has long
withheld <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestinian</a> tax revenue from the PA.</p>
<p>"The judgment will affect ordinary Palestinians who are already
operating on a 70 percent salary because the PA is a dysfunctional and
for-profit institution that is unable to even pay the full salaries of
its employees," Jarrar explained.</p>
<p>"It will be levied against doctors and engineers and government
employees. It is the closest we can get to an act of collective
punishment... these are ordinary Palestinians."</p>
<h3>The uprisings</h3>
<p>The PA is the governing body that has overseen areas of the occupied
West Bank since 1994, as part of the Oslo Accords peace agreement
between Israel and the PLO. </p>
<div>
<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/they-want-make-us-leave-israel-destroys-west-bank-wells-serving-palestinian-herders" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/IMG_8640%20%281%29.jpg.webp?itok=pVMKpBUo" width="400" height="250" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img">
</a></p><p>'They want to make us leave': Israel destroys West Bank wells serving Palestinian herders</p>
<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/they-want-make-us-leave-israel-destroys-west-bank-wells-serving-palestinian-herders" target="_blank">Read More »</a>
</p></div>
<p>The PLO is an umbrella political coalition that is internationally
recognised as the official representative of the Palestinian people in
both the Palestinian territories and the diaspora.</p>
<p>The Second Intifada, or uprising, began on 28 September 2000, when
then-Israeli opposition leader, the vehemently right-wing Ariel Sharon,
led a delegation to the Al-Aqsa complex, in what was seen by
Palestinians as an act of provocation.</p>
<p>When mass rallies broke out in response, the Israeli army responded
with deadly violence, killing nearly 50 Palestinians in the first five
days.</p>
<p>The Second Intifada is largely remembered for Israel's killing of
12-year-old Palestinian Mohammed al-Durrah as news cameras were rolling,
in what became the first instance of a live-streamed shooting of a
child hiding behind his father. The father survived. </p>
<p>Mohammed became a symbol of the Palestinian struggle against the occupation. </p>
<p>The Second Intifada lasted some five years, with Israeli forces killing nearly 5,000 Palestinians. </p>
<p>A thousand Israelis were killed in bombings and attacks carried out by Palestinians inside Israel. </p>
<h3>Separate rules</h3>
<p>Monday's supreme court decision brings into sharp focus the notion
that foreign governments and leaders can face legal repercussions in the
US, while the US repudiates and undermines the international courts
that were specifically designed to bring accountability to victims of
mass murder. </p><p>In July 2025, the US said it was placing sanctions on officials in the PA and PLO over their work taking Israel to those courts.</p>
<p>According to the State Department, the unnamed officials were \u201cnot
complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for
peace\u201d.</p>
<p>It cited \u201cinitiating and supporting actions at international
organizations\u201d and \u201ctaking actions to internationalize its conflict with
Israel such as through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and
International Court of Justice (ICJ)\u201d.</p>
<p>Washington accused the figures of violating the PLO Commitments
Compliance Act of 1989 (PLOCCA) and the Middle East Peace Commitments
Act of 2002 (MEPCA).</p>
<p>Since the Israeli assault on Gaza began in October 2023, killing more
than 74,000 Palestinians, Israel has found itself diplomatically
isolated.</p>
<p>This has been furthered by deadly Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>In September 2025, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-bans-visas-palestinian-passport-holders" target="_blank">announced</a>
it would revoke and deny visas to anyone affiliated with the PLO and
PA, and demanded the groups "consistently repudiate terrorism\u201d, citing
the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, according to a
US State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/08/trump-administration-reaffirms-commitment-to-not-reward-terrorism-and-revokes-visas-of-palestinian-officials-ahead-of-unga" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
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