Lawsuit Alleges Hamas Coordinated With Campus Protestors and Media in U.S.

Latest Developments

U.S. Nonprofit Coordinated with Hamas: Three Israelis who were held as hostages by Hamas filed a lawsuit on February 21 against an American tax-exempt organization, People Media Project, alleging that it helped the Iran-backed terrorist organization coordinate with its allies on college campuses and media in the United States. The Seattle-based nonprofit is the publisher of The Palestine Chronicle, which the lawsuit claims provided the hostages’ captor, Abdallah Aljamal, with a platform to “disseminate Hamas propaganda.”
Hamas Allies Aimed to Make Jews and Israelis Hated Everywhere: The lawsuit’s plaintiffs, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, were held hostage by Aljamal after their abduction from the Nova music festival during the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023. The trio were liberated during an IDF rescue operation on June 8, 2024, during which Aljamal, his wife, and his father were killed. The plaintiffs alleged that Aljamal told them that “Hamas was going to ensure that the United States, as well as Jews and Israelis, are hated everywhere and that Hamas in Gaza was coordinating with its allies, including its allies in the media and on college campuses, to foment hatred against Israel and Jews.”
Justice Department Asked to Investigate Terrorism Links: Aljamal, a former spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza Labor Ministry, had been described by The Palestine Chronicle as a “correspondent” in the Gaza Strip, a title the organization changed to “contributor” following his death. The news outlet published 14 articles by Aljamal in May 2024 and three in June 2024 prior to his death. In an obituary of Aljamal in the Chronicle, the outlet stridently denied that Aljamal had been holding hostages and claimed that he was not a paid employee of the outlet. In July 2024, the chairs of three key House of Representatives committees called on the Justice Department to investigate the Chronicle and the People Media Project for violations of U.S. terrorism and tax laws.

FDD Expert Response

“The case of Abdallah Aljamal is far from an isolated incident. Members of terrorist organizations, along with their supporters, have strategically used the media to spread propaganda and incite violence against Jews. Alarmingly, whether intentionally or unwittingly, media outlets have allowed themselves to become platforms for promoting hate. Palestinian terrorist groups and those aligned with their cause took full advantage of this dynamic after October 7, and the consequences are undeniable.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Edit at FDD’s Long War Journal

“Hamas’s strategy has always been to maximize Palestinian suffering in order to gain public sympathy for the Palestinians and increase Israel’s vilification. The college protests confirmed the effectiveness of this approach. The Palestine Chronicle lawsuit can help clarify the relationship between Hamas’s political operations and the useful idiots on American college campuses.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst 

“Aljamal is not a one-off case. His name is just one on a long list of journalists who have moonlit as terror operatives. Many were on Al Jazeera’s payroll. As this lawsuit against People Media Project proceeds, Al Jazeera should also be put in the hot seat. The Qatari-owned network is still flouting a 2020 Department of Justice order to register as a foreign agent.” — Natalie Ecanow, Senior Research Analyst