Tel-Chai Nation

The following info further illustrates just how corrupt the State Department is or could be, as well as the absurdity of continuing to be chummy with these "partners in peace" (Hat tip: Hot Air):

The State Department is considering supporting the Palestinian Authority in its quest to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments won by American victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel, according to Palestinian officials and defense lawyers involved in the cases.

U.S. officials insist that no decision has been made regarding the complex litigation, which could force the Bush administration to choose between supporting compensation for victims of terrorism and bolstering the Palestinian government as the United States presses for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Testimony in Israeli courts has connected senior Palestinian leaders -- such as the late Yasser Arafat -- to specific terrorist attacks involved in the lawsuits. But Palestinian officials have argued that it makes no sense for the United States to be providing millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority while U.S. courts are threatening to bankrupt it.

[...]

Leslye Knox, a 46-year-old mother of six children and widow of Aharon Ellis, a U.S. citizen who was killed in 2002 while singing at a bar mitzvah in Hadera, Israel, said that she has sued under a law passed by Congress in 1990 after the murder of Leon Klinghoffer by terrorists who seized the Achille Lauro cruise ship. In 2006, a federal judge ordered the PLO and the Palestinian Authority to pay Knox and other Ellis relatives nearly $174 million, but nothing has been paid while Knox has struggled to support her family.

[...]

“If the State Department tips the scales of justice against the victims in order to support adjudicated terrorists, the war on terrorism will be seen throughout the world as a farce,” said David J. Strachman, a Rhode Island lawyer who has spearheaded many of the lawsuits.

That's correct. It should also be noted that any such steps would even be going against the Constitution and Congress' efforts to help the victims in their quest for justice. You can also contact the State Department here.

Others on the subject include One Jerusalem, Soccerdad, Joshuapundit, Meryl Yourish.

Update: The New York Sun has reported that fortunately, Sen. Charles Schumer and several other senators have urged against any interference.

Labels: anti-semitism, political corruption, State Dept, terrorism