Rescued Israeli hostage suing US nonprofit linked to Hamas operative who held him
EXCLUSIVE - A rescued Israeli hostage is filing a lawsuit Tuesday against a U.S. nonprofit with financial ties to the Hamas operative who reportedly kept him prisoner.
Twenty-two-year-old Almog Meir Jan was held captive by Hamas for nearly 250 days following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and was found in the home of Abdallah Aljamal, a contributor to the website The Palestine Chronicle who also worked as a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza. Aljamal was killed during the IDF's rescue mission.
The Palestine Chronicle is run by the tax-exempt group, the People Media Project.
Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were also held captive at his family’s home in Nuseirat, Gaza, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.
"Under the leadership of Defendants [editor-in-chief] Ramzy Baroud and [People Media Project governor] John Harvey, Defendant Palestine Chronicle employed Hamas Operative Aljamal and offered him its U.S. platform to write and disseminate Hamas propaganda, ultimately subsidized, through its status as a tax-exempt charitable organization, by U.S. taxpayers," the court filing reads. "Following the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, while Hamas Operative Aljamal imprisoned Plaintiff, Defendants permitted Hamas Operative Aljamal to use their platform to whitewash Hamas’s crimes and attract international support for its terrorist cause."
"By providing this platform to Hamas Operative Aljamal and compensating Hamas Operative Aljamal for his propaganda, Defendants aided, abetted, and materially supported both Hamas Operative Aljamal and Hamas itself in their acts of terrorism, including kidnapping and holding Plaintiff hostage for 246 days, in violation of international law," the suit continued.
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The lawsuit, which will be filed Tuesday in Washington state's western district court, goes on to claim that the defendants "knowingly and willfully procured and disseminated Hamas propaganda to the Palestine Chronicle’s readers in the United States," citing reports alleging "at least six Palestine Chronicle writers and contributors have been affiliated with Iranian propaganda outlets."
It also links Baroud with Aljamal by citing an opinion piece they co-authored in 2019 for Al Jazeera.
"We filed this lawsuit against Palestine Chronicle and its directors because they knowingly supported a Hamas operative who held our client as a hostage in his home. We look forward to seeking justice from the federal court for our client," Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center and counsel for Jan, told Fox News Digital.
Fellow counsel Jason Torchinsky added, "Palestine Chronicle needs to be held accountable for its support of the Hamas operative who held our client hostage in Gaza. We filed this suit to seek relief for our client and to help expose the network of Hamas-linked PR fronts operating within the United States."
The Palestine Chronicle did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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Last month, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Biden administration to revoke the People Media Project's tax-exempt status following Jan's rescue.
"Obviously, it's disturbing, but to find out that a journalist, quote unquote, was engaged in the holding of hostages, is deeply troubling. And that's why myself and my colleagues have called for the 501(c)(3) status, to be revoked, and to make sure that we certainly, as the United States, government and U.S. taxpayers are not giving benefits, in any way, to entities or organizations affiliated with terrorism," Lawler told Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.