Israeli businesses aim lawsuits at Palestinian Authority

Los Angeles Times

JERUSALEM - If roadblocks, home demolitions and family deportations don't deter suicide bombers, maybe attorneys will.

At least three pending lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority seek millions of dollars in compensation for injury, lost business and even the chilling effect that violence has had on tourism.

The central tenet of the lawsuits - by a group of hotels, an Israeli bus company and a businessman - is that the Palestinian Authority as a quasi-governmental organization has been negligent in preventing acts of terror - and in some cases has abetted them.

Earlier this month, an Israeli court agreed to increase to $20.4 million the amount of Palestinian funds that Israel will "attach" - essentially seize pending an outcome - after the filing of a 50-page lawsuit by 37 hotels accusing the authority of scaring tourists away.

The attachment, and any settlement, comes out of taxes Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

Nabil abu Rudaineh, a senior aide to Yasser Arafat, said the Palestinian Authority takes the cases seriously but disputes their basic premise. "We are the ones who should take Israel to court for the occupation and millions of dollars in damaged and destroyed buildings, not the other way around," he said.