Lawsuit by Hostage Families Targets Campus Activists Over Alleged Support for Hamas

[Social Media]

 

A lawsuit filed on Monday in the Southern District of New York accuses several American nonprofit organizations and anti-Israel activists of providing direct assistance to Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. The complaint alleges a coordinated effort between these groups and individuals to support Hamas through propaganda and recruitment efforts.  

 

 

The lawsuit names Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and its spokesperson, Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 8. Other defendants include Nerdeen Kiswani, co-founder of Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestinian activist group; Maryam Alwan, a representative of Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine; and Cameron Jones, a representative of Columbia Jewish Voice for Peace.  

 

 

The plaintiffs consist of Columbia University students and parents of hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack. One plaintiff, Shlomi Ziv, who was abducted on that day, recalled that his captors “bragged about having Hamas operatives on American university campuses” and showed him Al-Jazeera reports and images of protests at Columbia University organized by the defendants.  

 

Khalil’s arrest ignited a nationwide debate over free speech and political activism. However, the lawsuit argues that the case is not about freedom of expression. “This case is not about individuals and organizations independently exercising their free speech rights to support whatever cause they wish—no matter how abhorrent,” the complaint states. “Rather, it is about organizations and their leaders knowingly providing substantial assistance—in the form of propaganda and recruiting services—to, and in coordination with, a designated foreign terrorist organization, Hamas.”  

 

Filed by attorneys from the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC), Schoen Law Firm, Greenberg Traurig, and Holtzman Vogel, the lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for alleged violations of the Antiterrorism Act and international law.  

 

Mark Goldfeder, the lead attorney at NJAC, emphasized that while free speech is protected on college campuses, it does not extend to collaborating with a terrorist organization or violating university policies. “They are not independently endorsing Hamas,” Goldfeder stated. “The defendants are providing material support.”  

 

The complaint highlights that as early as October 8, the national chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine—suspended from Columbia’s campus but allegedly continuing operations under CUAD—distributed toolkits instructing members to provide “real” support to Hamas, responding to the group’s “call for mass mobilization.”  

 

This lawsuit is not the first to claim that American individuals or organizations have supported Hamas. In a decades-long legal battle, the family of David Boim, a 17-year-old American killed by Hamas in 1996, has pursued lawsuits against U.S.-based nonprofits they allege raised funds for the terrorist group.  

 

Lara Burns, head of terrorism research at The George Washington University and a former FBI special agent, referenced the Boim case in discussing the current lawsuit. “The Boim family, whose teenage son was murdered by Hamas, filed a case against Hamas’s three front organizations, and the jury found those front organizations civilly liable for the murder of their son,” she said.  

 

Burns believes that elements within the U.S. maintain links to the original Hamas-affiliated organizations. Cases like the one filed this week, she argues, could hold individuals like Khalil accountable and lead to the dismantling of these groups.

 

Based on a report by NYP FP  2025-03-26

 

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[thesetat]

They should target the schools also for punitive damages since they allowed the propaganda and the students to do this without any repercussions until forced by losing their US funding. 

Protesting is one thing. Recruiting and taking over campuses or classroom as well as promoting terrorism is quite another. 

[coolcarer]

Useful idiots, they should have listened to the words of the son of Hamas founder.

 

[dinsdale]

The Free Palestine movement is just another variant of the mind virus. Some of them, however, are more than just woke liberal idiots and actively stirred the pot for Hamas propaganda purposes and Hamas' objective to disrupt western societies.

[dinsdale]

Well think of this what you will but it sure fits this thread.

 

[dinsdale]

2 hours ago, dinsdale said:

The Free Palestine movement is just another variant of the mind virus. Some of them, however, are more than just woke liberal idiots and actively stirred the pot for Hamas propaganda purposes and Hamas' objective to disrupt western societies.

I need to edit my own post. This came to mind after I couldn't edit:

The Free Palestine movement is just another variant of the mind virus. Some of them, however, are more than just woke liberal idiots and actively stirred the pot for Hamas propaganda purposes and Hamas' Iran's objective to disrupt western societies.