Relatives of victims of PLO terrorism throughout the past two decades filed suit this morning against Yasser Arafat for his crimes against humanity. Atty. Yaakov Rubin filed the suit at Belgium’s Palais de Justice, as Belgian law permits international figures to be charged with such crimes. A decision on a similar suit regarding Prime Minister Sharon’s indirect responsibility for the Phalangists’ Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982 is expected tomorrow in the same courthouse.

The delegation of eight family members, representing over 30 complainants in Israel and elsewhere, is sponsored by Israel’s Terror Victims Association. At a press conference held on the courthouse steps, TVA head Meir Indor declared that the suit gives the international community a chance to put Arafat where he rightfully belongs: “in prison for mass murder, and not in the parlors of Europe receiving prizes for peace.” Hundreds of Jewish and Christian supporters of Israel gathered there today, holding up signs denouncing Palestinian terror.

Atty. Rubin, speaking with Arutz-7 today, refused to predict whether the suit would be accepted, and said only, “If the Belgians feel they can try Prime Minister Sharon for his alleged indirect responsibility for Sabra and Shatila, then they can certainly try Arafat for direct responsibility for all the terrorist crimes the PLO committed over the years%hellip; These include charges of genocide, murder, and massacre of civilian population…” Rubin said that there exists no statute of limitations for those crimes. Asked about the Belgian media, he said, “They have shown some interest, though not as much as they have in the suit against Sharon.”

Two Belgian victims of PLO terrorism have also co-filed the suit. One of them is Oscar Gudlovitch, who was badly wounded in a PLO attack on a Brussels synagogue in 1982. Atty. Rubin emphasized that it will now not be able to be claimed – as Sharon plans to claim in his own defense – that the suit is not connected to Belgian citizens.

Included in the delegation are Frieda Sviri, who lost her son Doron and her daughter and son-in-law Sharon and Yaniv Bar-Shalom in a terrorist attack on the Modiin road three months ago; Yisrael Liebman, whose brother Shlomo was murdered in Yitzhar (Shomron) in Aug. 1998; Irina Rodin, whose daughter Simona was murdered in the Dolphinarium massacre; Chana Maoz, whose daughter Tehilla was killed in the Sbarro pizzeria attack; and Aryeh Boznach, father of one of the children murdered in the Maalot school massacre in 1974.