Lawsuit: Hamas captors showed hostage report about Columbia protesters, called them 'our own people'

[Beastly Boy]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Times of Israel

Hamas captors holding Israeli hostage Shlomi Ziv showed him news about protesters at Columbia University, according to a new legal filing.

While playing the news report for Ziv, his captors said, “You see, we have our own people everywhere,” the lawsuit says. “They then told him that Hamas has an ‘army’ operating out of Gaza that focuses specifically on media and sending Hamas propaganda and messaging throughout America and all around the world,” the lawsuit says.

The legal filing is an amended complaint filed yesterday in the federal Southern District court of New York.

The new details about Ziv’s captivity add to his testimony in a separate lawsuit. In that case, Ziv said his captors told him they were collaborating with campus protesters.




Read more: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lawsuit-hamas-captors-showed-hostage-report-about-columbia-protesters-called-them-our-own-people/

[Richard D]

1. Hamas has an 'army' operating out of Gaza that focuses specifically on media and sending Hamas propaganda and messaging

Hence, what we have been saying for 602 days now:

No one has any clue whether what they believe is true or is not true.

And people will believe what they have already decided to believe.

[Bok_Tukalo]

2. Criminalizing any criticism of Israel in the US is not far away.

Currently, you just get cancelled, deported, blackballed, thrown into a gulag, etc.

[Beastly Boy]

3. What are you referring to?

Are you objecting to victims testifying under oath, or is it the whole idea of due process of law that bothers you?

[AZLD4Candidate]

5. No. . .remember Hamas good. Israel bad. No matter what happens, it's always Israel.

If Israel had done the world a favor and dissolved as a country, Oct 7th would never have happened.

Or the one I've heard my entire life.

"Before Israel, we didn't have an enemy in the middle east. Now, because of Israel, we have no friends."

[Bok_Tukalo]

19. With us or against us, eh?

How cliche.

Hamas is scum. Doesn’t mean burying innocent children under rubble to die horribly is a good thing.

Unless you have dehumanized Palestinians then it is, I guess. One less in your way.

Have you dehumanized Palestinians?

[AZLD4Candidate]

6. Cancelled? Interesting choice of words. . .this is the same thing MAGAts claim when they get challenged.

They scream cancel culture.

Thrown into a gulag? Do you have any evidence of this?

[Cha]

15. And, there it is. the Deflecting isn't working.

Hamas captors holding Israeli hostage Shlomi Ziv showed him news about protesters at Columbia University, according to a new legal filing.

While playing the news report for Ziv, his captors said, “You see, we have our own people everywhere,” the lawsuit says. “They then told him that Hamas has an ‘army’ operating out of Gaza that focuses specifically on media and sending Hamas propaganda and messaging throughout America and all around the world,” the lawsuit says.

[yardwork]

4. That's been obvious from day one.

Concurrent with the physical attack on Israel, Hamas and their funders launched a social media blitz on the same exact day, complete with cute emojis and graphics.

[reACTIONary]

7. Here is an article about the lawsuit itself. The premise seems...

... pretty dubious.

"There is nothing wrong with being pro-Palestinian, and pro-Hamas speech is still protected speech in most contexts," he said. "The issue here is the material support of and coordination with a designated foreign terrorist organization."

If there was "material support" then the DOJ should bring charges against the individuals involved. If the DOJ has not brought charges, it would seem there isn't even probable cause.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/lawsuit-says-palestinian-advocates-columbia-university-further-hamas-propaganda-2025-03-24/

Most articles on this lawsuits do not go into much detail or provide any commentary regarding the defendant's position. The exception is this much more comprehensive article published in the Columbia Spectator, "the second-oldest college daily paper in the country and [has] been financially independent from the University since 1962".

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/04/01/families-of-october-7-victims-claim-columbia-student-organizations-are-hamas-propaganda-arm-in-lawsuit/

[Beastly Boy]

8. Yet, the lawsuit is proceeding and the witnesses are being deposed.

And this deposition is now a matter of public record. And due process of law will continue regardless of anyone's opinions.

[reACTIONary]

9. Keep us up to date ....

.... on the final disposition. We will see how it turns out.

[Beastly Boy]

10. As of now, I can only keep you inforrmed that this is not a criminal case.

So suggesting a referral to DOJ has no standing.

[reACTIONary]

11. One of the four defendant in the lawsuit is ....

.... Mahmoud Khalil, who has been detained and is undergoing deportation proceeding. Now, if there was anything like credible evidence that he has been providing "material support" to Hamas, one would expect that, rather than just being deported, the DOJ would have charged him with that. Since he, and the other three defendants, have not been so charged, I presume that there is no such credible evidence.

Here is a pretty comprehensive article about the case which includes, contrary to others I found, responses and commentary by the defendants, not just the plaintiffs.

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/04/01/families-of-october-7-victims-claim-columbia-student-organizations-are-hamas-propaganda-arm-in-lawsuit/

[Beastly Boy]

12. None of the defendant's statemens were accepted as evidence in the case. Ziv's statement was.

Only the jury can decide whether or not the evidence is credible, regardless of any commentary or responses by the defendants outside their sworn testimony.

And that, as you already stated, remains to be seen in a court of law, not on the pages of a student newspaper.

[reACTIONary]

13. Will it make it to a jury? Maybe you know if...

.... there has been a motion to dismiss as of yet.

I did find some further legal exegesis -

None of these (similar) lawsuits have survived a motion to dismiss... In a withering opinion upholding the dismissal of the BDS suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit observed that the plaintiffs’ “attempt to establish aiding-and-abetting liability fail[ed] at every turn.” The order dismissing the AP case was equally definitive. Motions to dismiss are currently pending in the UNRWA USA case (in which I am counsel) and the Virginia action.

Like the other (unsuccessful) complaints, this one comes nowhere close to satisfying the ATA’s requirements. The fact that the plaintiffs would file a suit with no prospect of proceeding to discovery, much less yielding a judgment, suggests its real purpose: to generate negative press coverage of pro-Palestine protesters, brand them as adjuncts of Hamas in the public imagination, and muzzle campus critics of Israel. The complaint is, in essence, a press release with a docket number.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-anti-terrorism-act-is-being-weaponized-to-harass-israel-s-critics

I guess we will find out.

[Beastly Boy]

16. Yes I do know. The motion to dismiss was filed and dismissed

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.337008/gov.uscourts.wawd.337008.55.0.pdf

And, as the article cited in the OP states,

A federal judge has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in that case earlier this month, saying there was reason to believe the nonprofit knew Aljamal was holding Israelis captive and affiliated with Hamas.

So the charges against at least one defendant stand and had been amended.

[reACTIONary]

17. Thanks for the update! I'll ...

... take a look and keep following it.

[Cha]

14. Many of us Knew That. Of course there's always

Last edited Fri May 30, 2025, 08:29 PM - Edit history (2)

denials everywhere.

And, Now.. What the Fuck good did the Campus Protesters DO? More Dead in Gaza and Mump & Netanyahu taking Over Gaza.

What did their "brilliant" plan accomplish. .. as long as they're gloating about it.

Mahalo, BB

[Beastly Boy]

20. I have no idea what to do with this unsolicited link

It certainly doesn't look like a legal opinion, or any opinion for that matter, on the case in question.

[Omaha Steve]

21. AFTER a review by forum hosts LOCKING

NOT Important news of national interest only.

Statement of Purpose
Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only. No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours. Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.