CAPITOL HILL MISSION
“If Iran was going to develop nukes,
Iran is going to do it in the military
facilities, which the IAEA is not
allowed to inspect. . . . If Iran lives up
to the agreement, Iran will have nukes
ten years after the agreement was
signed. It’s the world’s problem.”
-Congressman Louie Gohmert
(R-TX)
it’s good for America and Western civilization. . .
. Israel is the land described in the Old Testament
and awarded to the Jewish people by G-d, and
we here on the Christian side will defend Israel
strongly.”
Congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
and Eliot Engel (D-NY) attended the luncheon
but were compelled by pressing congressional
business to leave before having an opportunity to
address the ZOA activists.
David Schoen, Esq., a leading criminal lawyer
and member of the ZOA’s National Board, described
the need for congressional hearings after
the outcome in the legal case entitled Sokolow v.
Palestine Liberation Organization. This was a lawsuit
brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) by
American terror victims against the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian
Authority (PA) for orchestrating terrorist attacks in
Israel that led to the plaintiffs’ deaths and injuries.
The victims won a $655.5 million jury verdict.
On appeal by the PLO and the PA, the Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the jury
verdict, concluding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction
over the PLO and the PA, because the
victims had failed to show that the US was a target.
The Second Circuit’s decision effectively eviscerated
the ATA. The victims petitioned the US
Supreme Court to review the decision. Their
request was supported by amicus briefs from 23
Senators and the entire House of Representatives.
At the request of the Court, the Solicitor General
-
ernment. The brief sided with the PLO and the PA,
urging the Court to deny the victims’ request for
review. The Court listened, and denied the victims’
request for review, leaving them without the justice
they were due.
Schoen called for congressional hearings on the
subversion of the judicial process by the Solicitor
General, and to insure that the victims receive just
compensation before the PA receives additional
urged that before any entity receives US aid, it
should have to agree to submit to the jurisdiction
of the courts in cases brought under the ATA, as a
condition of receiving the aid. Following Schoen’s
stirring presentation, Morton Klein noted that the
ZOA is the only major Jewish organization to seriously
pursue these issues in support of American
victims of terrorism.
entire ZOA staff for their hard work in making the
Mission such a success. Mort offered special thanks
to Josh London and Dan Pollak, Co-Directors of
the ZOA’s Government Relations Department, who
were masters of ceremonies at the luncheon event
and led the discussion of issues, and for all their
work in helping to bring the impressive array of
lawmakers to the luncheon.
11 11