A lawsuit brought by the families of victims of the October 7 attacks in Israel alleges that several pro-Hamas and anti-Israel groups in the United States aided and abetted the Hamas attack.
Some groups reactivated their dormant social media accounts just prior to the attacks, according to the lawsuit.
I think this is likely the most explosive detail in the entire complaint. Three minutes BEFORE the start of the Oct 7th attack (approximately midnight NY time), Columbia SJP activated its months-dormant Instagram account. https://t.co/saSAWBVFAd pic.twitter.com/KbdU2xR2yO
— daniela (@daniela__127) March 25, 2025
Among the groups being sued is Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), whose leader, Mahmoud Khalil, sits in an ICE detention center in Louisiana awaiting deportation.
“Defendants in this case are Hamas’ propaganda arm in New York City and on the Columbia University campus,” the suit states.
The suit was filed in the Southern District of New York Court against Within Our Lifetime and its leader, Nerdeen Kiswani; Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and representative Maryam Alwan; Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace and representative Cameron Jones; and CUAD and Khalil.
“Their self-described acts in furtherance of their goals to assist Hamas have included terrorizing and assaulting Jewish students, unlawfully taking over and damaging public and university property on Columbia’s campus, and physically assaulting Columbia University employees,” the families added.
The families allege that as Hamas launched its brutal attack, where the terror group killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others, it put out a message abroad for it’s supporters to “join the battle in any way they can.”
The lawsuit accuses Khalil, Kiswani, Alwan and Jones of taking up the call and preparing to launch anti-Israel rallies at Columbia University.
“Associational Defendants have distributed pro-terror propaganda produced by and literally stamped with the logo of the ‘Hamas Media Office,'” the filing claims.
“Three minutes before Hamas began its attack on October 7, Columbia SJP posted on Instagram ‘We are back!!’ and announced its first meeting of the semester would be announced and that viewers should ‘Stay tuned,'” according to the suit.
“Associational Defendants are not independent advocates; they are expert propagandists and recruiters for international foreign terrorist organizations and nation-state proxies operating in plain sight in New York City,” the plaintiffs add.
The above quote from the lawsuit is key. The Students for Justice in Palestine and other pro-Hamas organizations couldn't exist without material support from Hamas. Their money comes to them after having been laundered and the donors obscured. Iran is a known donor to these groups.
They are classic behind-the-lines propagandists familiar in every war ever fought.
Shlomi Ziv, a hostage taken on October 7 by Hamas, is quoted in the lawsuit as saying his captors told him about Hamas agents in the U.S.
"Upon information and belief, and based upon statements made to Plaintiff Shlomi Ziv by his Hamas captor, Hamas and AMP/NSJP provided financial, organizational, and other support to CUAD and the Columbia AMP/NSJP Affiliates for the Encampment," read the suit.
Law professor Anat Alon-Beck, who was working with National Jewish Advocacy Center, who filed the suit alongside Schoen Law Firm, Greenberg Traurig, LLC, and Holtzman Vogel, said in a Monday statement that the legal action was one of national security. “While the US cherishes free expression, it unequivocally condemns violence," said Alon-Beck. "Ironically, those who champion such support would be silenced under Hamas' oppressive regime, starkly illustrating the contrast between our cherished freedoms and their brutal tyranny.” Ziv was working as a security guard at the Nova Music Festival, and fended off terrorists and evacuated civilians before being captured and taken to Gaza. He was held hostage for 246 days before being rescued alongside three other captives in a June IDF operation.
For too long, universities have tolerated this traitorous element on their campuses. Freedom is not to be abused in this fashion, not when an ultra-violent, ultra-racist, criminal element is allowed to flourish.
Support for Hamas is antisemitic. That has to be made clear to students wishing to join these organizations.
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