Being Palestinian Means Never Having to Be Sorry

The Left and Muslim Brotherhood have created a monster.

In March of this year, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals revived our monetary judgment against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and PLO in a 3-0 decision. Officially, they “recalled their mandate” from 2015 that had thrown out the $655.5 million judgment due to the defendants' lack of standing in the U.S. Patriots in the U.S. Congress and President Trump passed the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act of 2019 (PSJVTA), and in 2025, the Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, declared the law constitutional. The law included a provision that gave the PA 120 days to stop funding terrorists in Israeli jails, where those terrorists had killed and wounded American citizens. The PA chose — and still chooses — to pay terrorists and thus established its own standing in U.S. courts.

Since losing at the Second Circuit, the PA has been busy. They requested a hearing in front of all of the circuit’s judges (“en banc”). Denied. They requested a stay from the Court so that we could not begin collection proceedings against them. Denied. They requested from Justice Sonia Sotomayor a similar stay, which she also denied. They will no doubt file a request for a hearing in front of the Supreme Court, and we hope that the Court will deny their application for cert.

On the one hand, the actions of the PA and PLO are completely logical. Anyone or any organization facing significant financial or corporeal punishment would do everything legally in its power to stave off the same. It is a testimony to the incredible greatness of the United States that two organizations found legally responsible for terror activities against American citizens still find so many opportunities to try to save themselves from a jury verdict. So while their behavior might be the same employed by a Fortune 500 company found negligent in some horrible accident, there is more to the PA and PLO, and it is the reason that peace is not breaking out in the Middle East.

When the 2023 pogrom became the largest murder of Jews since the Holocaust, there were many protests in the West in favor of Hamas and against Israel. Almost immediately, signs demanding a Palestinian state from the “river to the sea” were present, as were demands of “intifada revolution” in order to get rid of the current residents of this space, as well as Jews more generally. What one found in very small quantities was any criticism of Hamas specifically or Palestinians in general. Some may have made some quick comments about being against the killing of civilians, but they quickly changed gears to denounce Israel and make it clear that the Jews deserved everything they got. And it continues to this day. Norman Finkelstein told Hasan Piker that there was no sexual violence committed by Hamas in the attack on Israel. His statement flies in the face of testimonies from actual victims, eyewitnesses, and first responders and doctors who recovered the bodies of women after the attack.

I remember when our trial ran in 2015. The lawyers then representing the PA and PLO said that they felt sorry for the plaintiffs for our suffering. They did so because it was a jury trial and they could not claim that the well-documented attacks did not take place. They did. Their argument was simply that those who detonated themselves or shot at others did so on their own dime and of their own choosing. The fact that our bomber was also a Palestinian policeman and the one who sent him to Jerusalem kept getting paid and going up in rank in the PA intelligence services while in Israeli jail kind of laid waste to their argument that these were lone wolves not supported by the PA. This attitude that the Palestinians are never responsible for their violence or that Israel’s existence justifies rape, beheadings, and burning families to death is the reason that there will be no peace or state of Palestine.

One can juxtapose two videos of either Germany or Japan. The first would show a wild rally for Hitler, where the women are swooning, and the men are throwing their arms out in a Heil Hitler gesture every 30 seconds. The next picture would show modern Germany, with skyscrapers and Lufthansa flights arriving at Frankfurt Airport. What is missing is how the fascist German state was crushed and rebuilt to become the modern state of Germany that we currently know. For Germany and Japan to succeed, they needed to confront their past. They needed to admit their responsibility for tens of millions of deaths. They needed to purge their wartime leaders, who were tried and often put to death for their actions. Without the denazification process, Germany could not have moved from a destroyed fascist state to a modern capitalistic wonder. And this process will never happen with the Palestinians. Their most popular "leader" is arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti.

Germany and Japan in the 1930s believed that they had been treated unfairly. Both felt that they should be bigger players in the world, and World War II allowed them to grab countries and resources in order to prove their point. Losing unconditionally forced them to look hard at themselves and change their ways. Even today, 80 years after the end of World War II, neither Japan nor Germany is fully equipped for offensive military activities. They were made to be defensive nations, not allowed the ability to once again threaten the world. The Palestinians also felt that they had been jilted, and they have been egged on by the Western Left to be the grand victims on the world stage. When an individual or group feels that it is a victim, it also believes that it can do no wrong. We’ve seen those demented statements that blacks can’t be racists. Of course they can, and we see anti-white racism in hiring and the pretend basketball of the WNBA. Palestinians feel justified and are told that they are okay in whatever horrific things they do. Even though there were no Jews in Gaza in 2023, “colonialism” was blamed for the murder of 1,200 Israelis. “Gaza was one big prison” was another excuse, though thousands of Gazans entered Israel daily to work, and the fourth wall of the “prison” was Egyptian, and they could have let all of the Palestinians out if they so pleased. Once violence against Jews is justified, then the Palestinians have no reason to do introspection required for a better future.

If our court case had been against say IBM, I would expect that our lawyers and theirs would be getting together about now to discuss how the case is completed. But with the PA and PLO, they still believe that they have done nothing wrong and that any violence against Americans in Israel is justified because of “resistance,” “occupation,” and other nonsensical words that they throw around to justify never having to look in the mirror. Resistance is a funny one. If one comes to bash your head in, it would be a bit of a stretch to say that the fellow doing the bashing was “resisting.” Resisting, according to the dictionary, would be your putting your hands over your head or running away in order to RESIST being harmed. Not for the Palestinians. Resisting means raping women and killing children. And there is nobody in the Palestinian orbit, not Muslim “brothers” (who generally hate them) or lefty keffiyeh fans, who can tell the Palestinians that they need to stop the violence. Both the Palestinians and their global audience love seeing Jewish blood flowing in the streets. The Palestinians cannot change, so don’t expect Israel to commit suicide for their benefit.

Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Townhall's conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.