A lawsuit filed in federal court this week alleges that AJP Educational Foundation Inc. — also known as American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) — act to support Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for the October 7 massacre.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia by global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, the National Jewish Advocacy Center, the Schoen Law Firm, and the Holtzman Vogel Law Firm.
“The lawsuit, which seeks compensatory damages for nine American and Israeli victims of the attack in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 240 people hostage, alleges that AMP and NSJP work in the United States as collaborators and propagandists for Hamas,” a joint statement from the law firms said. “The suit also notes that AMP and NSJP are merely the current version of several prior entities that were already determined by the U.S. government to be supporters of Hamas.”
The lawsuit comes as pro-Palestinian protests have erupted on dozens of college campuses across the U.S. to varying degrees over the last two weeks.
Throughout the course of the protests, hundreds of protesters have been arrested for a variety of crimes ranging from assault to trespassing.
The statement continued:
The suit alleges AMP and NSJP responded on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the horrific atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, by participating in the terrorist’s propaganda to justify its appalling brutalities. AMP and NSJP answered Hamas’s “call for mass mobilization” by disseminating a manifesto and plan of attack. This manifesto confirms that “AMP and NSJP are not merely organizing to assist Hamas’s ongoing terror campaign abroad—they are intentionally extending their aid to fomenting chaos, violence, and terror in the United States.” In this manner, the groups acted to support and further the goals and directives of Hamas.
Further, the lawsuit states that “Plaintiffs—survivors of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, family members of those murdered by Hamas, civilians still under fire from Hamas’s ongoing terrorism, and persons displaced by Hamas’s ongoing terrorism—have been, and continue to be, injured because AMP and NSJP knowingly provide continuous, systematic, and substantial assistance to Hamas and its affiliates’ acts of international terrorism. AMP and NSJP are thus liable to Plaintiffs for the damages they incurred because AMP and NSJP aid and abet Hamas’s terrorism.”
In a joint statement, the victims said that it was their goal to hold AMP and NSJP “responsible for their horrific actions.”
“We want to go on record to expose these groups for the terrorists they are and make certain that they are stopped from operating in the United States and other countries they infiltrate,” the statement said.
Just a couple of weeks after the October 7 massacre, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis led the nation in banning local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine on the state’s college campuses because they allegedly broke Florida laws about terrorism.
“During a holy Jewish holiday, the recognized terrorist organization, Hamas, launched an unprovoked attack on Israel – among those killed were babies, women, and elderly,” Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, said in a letter to the presidents of Florida’s public universities. “To date, approximately 1,400 Israelis have been killed, including 31 American citizens. Governor DeSantis, our State University System and the Florida College System have condemned these attacks.”
In response to the Islamic terrorist attacks, “National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP) released a ‘toolkit’ which refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as ‘the resistance’ and unequivocally states: ‘Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement,’” the letter said.
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The letter noted that under Florida law, it is a felony to “knowingly provide material support . . . to a designated foreign terrorist organization. . .” The United States designates Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
“Here, National SJP has affirmatively identified it is part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood—a terrorist led attack,” the letter continued, later adding: “Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated.”
The letter concluded by saying that Florida will continue to monitor events on college campuses and will be “using all tools at our disposal to crack down on campus demonstrations that delve beyond protected First Amendment speech into harmful support for terrorist groups.”