Families of hostages held by Hamas believe that anti-Israel groups like Students for Justice in Palestine had “prior knowledge” of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks — after the controversial activists proclaimed “we are back” in an Instagram post just hours before the deadly assault, according to a new lawsuit.
The suit, filed Monday in Manhattan federal court by six relatives of captives of the terror group, cites a “highly suggestive” Instagram post from Columbia University’s SJP allegedly published “moments” before Hamas’ attack on Israel began.
“Three minutes before Hamas began its attack on October 7, Columbia SJP posted on Instagram ‘We are back!!’ in an announcement about its first meeting of the semester, and urging viewers to ‘stay tuned,’” according to the suit.
The filing notes that the group’s account had been “dormant for months” before the Oct. 6 posting, which was made a couple of weeks after the start of Columbia’s Fall 2023 semester.
The plaintiffs accuse the group as being part of “Hamas’ American propaganda arm,” and the terrorists’ “US-based in-house public relations firm, which has changed forms several times to evade criminal and civil liability.”
“Columbia SJP was the leading organizer of pro-Hamas disruptions, encampments, and riots on Columbia’s campus, including virulent antisemitic protests that harassed and physically intimidated Jewish students and faculty, glorified Hamas, engaged in dangerous premeditated unlawful acts, and significantly impaired Columbia University’s ability to provide educational services to its students,” the suit states.
Although the lawsuit notes SJP was suspended by the Ivy League university in November 2023, it claims the group “continues operating covertly” through “intermediaries.”
SJP did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The lawsuit also highlights a “toolkit” disseminated by National Students for Justice in Palestine on Oct. 8, 2023, that called on the group’s partners and allies to organize a “Day of Resistance” and “sign what was, effectively, a loyalty pledge to Hamas.”
The families’ suit names several other defendants — including Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Nerdeen Kiswani of Within Our Lifetime-United For Palestine, Maryam Alwan of the Columbia SJP and Cameron Jones, of the Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace — which it claims “followed the NSJP Toolkit to the letter.”
“Since October 7, these organizations have only been more aggressive and more militant in their efforts to, in coordination with Hamas and AMP/NSJP, distribute Hamas-created and affiliated propaganda, incite fear and violence, and attack critical academic, economic, and infrastructure centers in New York City,” it alleges.
NSJP also urged its chapters to sign on to what the suit refers to as the “Towfan Al-Aqsa statement” — referencing the codename for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” according to the lawsuit.
The statement demands that NSJP chapters “pledge loyalty to the cause: providing knowing and substantial assistance to Hamas’ prior and ongoing acts of international terrorism. It requires chapters to declare their ‘unwavering support of the resistance in Gaza [Hamas],’” the lawsuit states.
The suit claims that the statement “was drafted, reviewed, and signed by more than 80 organizations before and/or during the events of October 7 themselves,” including SJP.
“On information and belief, Associational Defendants had prior knowledge of the October 7 attack. The bases for that belief include the timing of the NSJP Toolkit’s distribution and the signing of the Towfan Al-Aqsa Statement,” the lawsuit states.
The suit also points to the defendants allegedly distributing “pro-terror propaganda” at recent protests, including at a takeover of Barnard College’s Milstein Library earlier this month where flyers praising the Oct. 7 attacks were on offer, including one purporting to come from the “Hamas Media Office.”
The presence of those flyers were part of the federal government’s justification for sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest Khalil at his university-owned apartment March 8 and put him in line for deportation, which he is fighting.
The lawsuit also alleges that every time Hamas and its allies put out a call on social media urging its “resistance abroad” to “join the battle any way they can,” the student groups would answer, with the encampment at Columbia’s campus and last spring’s Hamilton Hall takeover serving as prime examples.
“They have also repeatedly terrorized and assaulted Jews across New York City and on Columbia University’s campus, physically assaulted Columbia University employees, and illegally seized and damaged public and private property,” the filing reads.
The suit argues that the defendants’ actions render them ineligible for protection under the constitutional right to free speech and protest, claiming they were coordinating with a foreign terrorist group.
“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 lawsuit states, claiming the defendants violated America’s Antiterrorism Act.
The lawsuit seeks to have the defendants charged with criminal violations and pay unspecified damages.
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