Last summer an IDF raid resulted in the freeing of four hostages who were being held in civilian homes. There were reports at the time that some of the hostages were being held in the home of a Palestinian journalist named Abdallah Aljamal.

Aljamal, along with his wife Fatima and father Ahmed, was killed when Israeli forces entered their apartment, where the hostages were being held, in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza. The three rescued hostages held by the Aljamals are Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov.

In addition to his service assisting the Hamas authorities in Gaza in the incarceration of civilian abductees, Aljamal was employed as a spokesman for the Gaza Labor Ministry. He also found time in his busy schedule to work as a journalist, penning a long list of articles for the US-based Palestine Chronicle newspaper, as well as a co-authored piece for Al-Jazeera.

All three of the hostages held by Aljamal were taken from the Nova music festival and were kept captive for 246 days. Almog Meir Jan, one of the three, filed a lawsuit last year aimed at the US-based news outlet Aljamal wrote for. He gave an interview in which he described his captor, who he knew as Mohammed, as a sadist, a psycho and a control freak. In reality that person was Abdallah Aljamal.

Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan speaks to @Uvda_tweet about his 8 months in hell under brutal torture by @AJEnglish Hamas "journalist" Abdallah Aljamal.

When asked how long he was bound and tied for, Almog responds "two and a half months". pic.twitter.com/tZr3vnCf2x

— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) July 22, 2024

Almog Meir Jan's case was dismissed last month but the judge said he could revise and refile it. Last Friday he did that, adding the other two hostages he was kept with as plaintiffs in the case. They are suing the site which published their captor's writings even as he was holding them in his home. The Palestine Chronicle is a site created by a nonprofit based in Washington state called the People Media Project.

The Palestine Chronicle website was established in September 1999 and has grown in its importance and scope of coverage mostly because of the support it received from socially conscious and progressive scholars, writers, activists, readers and communities around the world.

To view Palestine Chronicle’s public reports, please search in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search Details. Find us under People Media Project.

The former hostages argue that because their captor was openly associated with Hamas, there was no way the People Media Project/Palestine Chronicle didn't know they were publishing the opinions of a terror group. In fact, they claim Aljamal told them that he was working with media outlets and with protesters on college campuses.

The new complaint was filed on Friday, adding Kozlov and Ziv as plaintiffs. The lawsuit, backed by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, was filed in a federal court in Washington State, where the People Media Project is based.

The case argues that the Palestine Chronicle provided Aljamal with a platform to “disseminate Hamas propaganda,” providing material support to a US-designated terrorist organization, in violation of international law.

According to the amended complaint, Ziv said Aljamal “repeatedly expressed his hatred for the State of Israel and the United States,” and told the hostages that “Hamas was in contact and actively coordinating with its affiliates in the media and on college campuses.”

The goal was to foment hatred of Israel, the Jews and the US which was exactly the goal of Hamas.

Aljamal told the hostages 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,” the complaint said.

The Palestine Chronicle originally listed Aljamal as a correspondent but changed that to "contributor" after he was killed in the raid that freed the hostages. The site also published a story about his death which denied he had any knowledge of the hostages kept in the same building. Of course once they were home, the hostages could recognize the man who had been keeping them captive for months.

The editor of the Palestine Chronicle apparently grew up in the same town as Aljamal and co-wrote a piece for Al Jazeera with him at one point. The question now is whether the former hostages can prove that the Palestine Chronicle knew Aljamal was working for Hamas. We'll have to wait and see if this case is allowed to move forward.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration may want to take a look at this group's 501(c)3 status. US taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing terrorist propaganda.