By Mark Goldfeder & Jason Torchinsky
Sunday, July 28, 2024
On June 8, the Israel Defense Forces pulled off a
daring rescue mission, freeing four Israeli hostages held for nearly 250 days
since the October 7 terrorist attack. Soon after, the world learned that three
of these hostages were held captive by Abdallah Aljamal, a so-called journalist who was, in
reality, a Hamas operative and spokesman.
Not as well known but equally disturbing is the fact that
Aljamal was receiving financial and other support from a U.S.-based, nonprofit
news organization, People Media Project, which operates the Palestine
Chronicle, for which Aljamal wrote. Because the Palestine Chronicle has
tax-exempt status, U.S. taxpayer dollars essentially subsidized Hamas’s hostage
operations.
Now, one of those hostages, our client Almog Meir Jan,
has filed a lawsuit against People Media Project and its leadership, demanding
accountability for their role in aiding and abetting Hamas terrorism. The
lawsuit argues that People Media Project not only gave a voice to terrorist
propaganda through the Palestine Chronicle but also, in clear violation
of U.S. law, directly supported the efforts of a Hamas operative who held
Israeli citizens hostage in his home for approximately the last six months of
their eight months in captivity.
For its part, People Media Project denies the
allegations.
We believe Jan’s case against the Washington State–based
media company is airtight. Following the October 7 terror attack, People Media
Project continuously supported Aljamal with a platform and financial backing.
Aljamal posted several pieces a week on the Palestine Chronicle’s
website, praising Hamas’s “daring attack,” demonizing Israel, and spreading falsehoods about the war in Gaza, including misinformation about Israeli airstrikes. His propaganda
played a critical role for Hamas as it looked to “shore up its popularity” and manipulate the public
narrative on the world stage. Aljamal’s connections to Hamas were well known
throughout this period. He also had a previous stint as an official
spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Labor in Gaza.
While working for the Palestine Chronicle, Aljamal
was holding the three Israeli civilians in his home. Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and
Andrey Kozlov were “beaten regularly” during their captivity, suffered “almost
daily abuse,” and showed signs of malnutrition and muscle wastage, according to
Dr. Itai Pessach of Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, who supervised their
recovery. The rescued hostages were also reportedly
abused emotionally, psychologically, and religiously, forced to read the Koran
daily and participate in Muslim prayer.
Alarmingly, the terrorist connection at People Media
Project goes far beyond Aljamal. Indeed, the second defendant in Jan’s lawsuit,
Ramzy Baroud, who serves as editor in chief of the Palestine Chronicle,
has worked with an organization led by an individual convicted of
terrorism-related crimes; this same organization hosted a conference sponsored by Hamas and Muslim
Brotherhood–affiliated groups. The third defendant, John Harvey, listed as
People Media Project’s secretary and treasurer, organized a campaign to make the Hamas stronghold of Rafah
a sister city of Olympia, Wash., according to the Washington Free
Beacon.
At least six Palestine Chronicle writers and
contributors have been linked to Iranian propaganda outlets, the Free Beacon
reports. Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, backs Hamas and
similar groups globally. At least one Palestine Chronicle writer posted
to social media instruction videos about how to most effectively stab Jews with
a knife. Earlier this month, the U.S. director of national intelligence revealed that “actors tied to Iran’s government” have
co-opted and funded some anti-Israel protests in the U.S.
It is illegal for a U.S. nonprofit to provide support for
terrorism. In fact, there is clear precedent under international law and the
U.S. tax code for revoking the tax-exempt status of
organizations supporting terrorism. According to House Ways and Means Committee
chairman Jason Smith (R., Mo.), the Internal Revenue
Service has previously revoked tax-exempt status for other organizations after
public reporting suggested they provided material support to a terrorist
organization. On July 10, Smith and two other House committee chairmen, James
Comer (R., Ky.) and Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), sent a letter to Attorney General
Merrick Garland calling for a criminal investigation of the Palestine
Chronicle.
The United States has long recognized Hamas as a
terrorist organization. The group’s track record of violent attacks against
civilians and its explicit goal of annihilating Israel and targeting Jews
worldwide leave no room for doubt. Since its founding, Hamas has committed “countless acts of violence against both military
and civilian targets,” including bombings, shootings, stabbings, kidnappings,
and rocket attacks. On October 7, Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200
Israelis and people of other nationalities, injured more than 6,900 people, and
took more than 200 hostages.
We now know that three of those hostages were held by a
Hamas operative supported by People Media Project and subsidized by American
taxpayer money. (The fourth hostage rescued on June 8, Noa Argamani, was held
in another home in the same neighborhood.) Today, some 80 hostages believed to be alive remain in captivity,
including the two Bibas
children and their parents.
People Media Project cannot be allowed to continue
operating with impunity and with American taxpayer dollars. To allow it to do
so is tantamount to supporting terrorism, the October 7 atrocities, and the
immense human suffering of the hostages — among them five Americans believed to be alive.
The U.S. must not turn a blind eye to People Media
Project’s blatant abuse of nonprofit status and complicity in crimes against
humanity. May Almog Meir Jan get the justice he deserves, for himself and for
so many others still in captivity.
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