The Palestine Chronicle and Hamas: Unraveling the Legal Battle (Part 3)
Is Hamas and the Palestine Chronicle Coordinating with Universities against Israel, the U.S. and the Jews?
Last week, new allegations surfaced from hostages held by Palestine Chronicle journalist Abdallah Aljamal, claiming he told them Hamas is coordinating with "allies" in the media and universities to spread anti-Israel, anti-U.S., and anti-Jewish propaganda. The amended filing, submitted on February 21st, states that Aljamal claimed Hamas is working with allies, including in media and on college campuses, to incite hatred against Israel, Jews, and the U.S. You can read more about the case in Part 1, including the known Hamas ties to Aljamal and Ramzy Baroud, editor in chief for the Palestine Chronicle.
The key question is how involved Ramzy Baroud might be in such coordination, not just as the chief editor of The Palestine Chronicle, but within a broader network tied to Hamas, the media and universities. As seen in Part 2, Baroud is a key member of the Palestine Media Forum, Tawasol, which has very strong links to Hamas and is openly and actively coordinating with international media and creating a global network of professionals "serving the Palestinian cause." In short, Tawasol connects media, academic, and institutional figures to promote anti-Israel, anti-U.S., and anti-Jewish propaganda worldwide and Ramzy is member of the Board of Trustees, among others with ties to Hamas.
In this part 3, we will examine claims of allies at university coordinating a hate campaign with Hamas. We will assess if Ramzy Baroud’s might be connected in such coordination. Baroud’s extensive academic background suggests he has a global network that could aid efforts to "serve the Palestinian cause." Before becoming chief editor of the Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud taught at Curtin University and headed Al Jazeera English's Research and Studies department, fostering ties within academia. With a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies and roles at institutions like the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Istanbul Zaim University, Baroud’s has authored various books, including one called “My Father was a Freedom Fighter.” Yes, you got that right, Ramzy Baroud wrote a book where he openly discusses how his father was a “freedom fighter.”
While all of this is suggestive, isn't proof of coordination. To look for some sort of proof of coordination between Hamas, Ramzy and “allies in Universities”, we must look at the source of the chaos.
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) At The Center Of The Chaos in Universities.
As we know, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is among the organizations widely reported to be at the center of the chaos at universities and streets across the U.S. AMP, among many things, provides “advocacy training,” including instruction on how to lobby politicians. and produces media and activism guidebooks. AMP is not only accused of a launching a hate campaign against Israel and Jews across American Universities, it also accused of coordinating its activities with Hamas. Matching the claims that Hamas is coordinating with “allies” in the Universities.
The question remains, how is Palestine Chronicle’s Ramzy Baroud linked to the AMP? While Ramzy Baroud has participated in many AMP events for years, he has much deeper ties to AMP than simply participating in them as a speaker. Before diving into how Ramzy Baroud is further linked to AMP, let's try to understand the web of organizations behind AMP, who AMP is, and who its members are.
Who is American Muslims for Palestine?
American Muslim for Palestine (AMP) was founded in 2006 by Palestinian-American UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, who is also a co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The organization opened its first office in 2009 in Palos Heights, Illinois. As of 2022, AMP’s website describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.” AMP claimed to have accomplished its mission by creating and disseminating educational materials, “community-based programing and engaging with regional and national media.”
How is AMP and Other “Non-Profit” Organizations Connected To Hamas?
I won’t dive into all the organizations linked to AMP; I will only focus on a few organizations: AMP, SJP, CAIR, and DAWN, and how they are not only interconnected but also part of the same network of terror-linked organizations from the past.
Before AMP was created there was another organization carrying out the same functions, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), an organization that was shut down in 2006 by the US government and became listed as a designated terrorist organization for being a Hamas front. The Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) was identified by the FBI to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood's “Palestine Committee” right alongside the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The “Palestine Committee” was created by the Muslim Brotherhood to advance Hamas’ agenda politically and financially in the United States. Several Palestine Committee entities were created by Mousa Abu Marzook, who remains a top Hamas political leader, including the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), part of the largest terror financing trial in U.S. history.
Omar Ahmed and Nihad Awad, CAIR co-founders who today serve as CAIR's chairman and executive director, were also listed as individual members the Brotherhood's Palestine Committee in America. Both Omar Ahmed and Nihad Awad were also unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case. CAIR’s Awad and Ahmed, before it was shutdown by the government, used to be the president and public relations director of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), the old Hamas front group that was responsible for the dissemination of propaganda, before getting replaced by AMP.
Hatem Bazian, founder of AMP and co-founder of SJP, in 2004, spoke at a KindHearts Fundraising Dinner, headlined “Palestinians in agony!” KindHearts organization, is the same organization as the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP).
Nihad Awad, in addition, serves as a board member of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), another organization which is also tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. DAWN in addition to launching a lawfare campaign against Israel, it is now is also targeting the U.S. Two months ago, it announced it was helping sue Biden’s State Department, including Anthony Blinken, on behalf of five individuals for supposedly “Failing to Enforce of the Leahy Law”, euphemism for “not preventing Israel from defending itself. ” One of the plaintiffs, believe or not, is Shawan Jabarin, a senior official for the terrorist organization PFLP.
I want you to understand the absurdity of the situation: DAWN, a U.S.-based non-profit with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, is suing the United States on behalf of a senior official of a designated terrorist organization for not preventing Israel from defending itself against such terrorists.
But that is not all, Shawan Jabarin, former PFLP operative, is the current the head of Al-Haq, a Palestinian “human rights” NGO. Yes, we live in a world where it is not only terrorist adjacent people running non-profits, but also known terrorists are allowed to lead NGOs and sue the U.S. government for not allowing them to kill more Jews. But as if that was not absurd enough, in 2017, Al-Haq submitted a report to the prosecutor of the ICC accusing Israel of “war crimes,” expecting the prosecutor to launch an investigation against Israel. On November 9, 2023, Al-Haq, along with PCHR, and Al-Mezan filed a lawsuit with the ICC urging the Office of the Prosecutor to “Consider the inclusion of crimes against humanity, notably apartheid, and the crime of genocide, in the ongoing investigation into the situation in the ‘State of Palestine’.”
And to top it all of, last week DAWN decided to elevate its lawfare against Israel to now include the U.S. by filling a referral against the U.S. at the ICC, “urging the ICC” to investigate Biden, Blinken and Austin for “Aiding and Abetting Israeli Crimes in Gaza.” We know DAWN is coordinating with a wider diverse network for its lawfare. Last year, by the own admission of DAWN’s Executive Director, Sarah Leah Whitson, the ICC warrants against Israeli leaders “didn’t happen in a vacuum,” they were the product of ‘hundreds of people, including lawyers, activists and NGOs’, and the efforts go back “many, many years.” Oh, and she wasn’t shy to admit it was nothing more than a witch hunt.
AMP is also involved in the lawfare against Israel, as documented by NGO Monitor.
In November 2022, during its annual Palestine Convention, AMP held a workshop titled “The International Criminal Court: The Inclusion of the Crime Against Humanity of Apartheid.”
In March 2020, President of AMP Hatem Bazian submitted an amicus brief to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in support of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s decision to investigate Israel for alleged war crimes. The brief consisted of an irrelevant diatribe about events in the 1910s and 1920s, with the conclusion that “Not only that I urge the court to recognize Palestine, as a State, but the time is right for London to publicly admit that the Balfour Declaration was a major historical crime against the Palestine, was illegal, led to ethnic cleansing and created a 12-million member Palestinian diaspora.”
In April 2021, AMP welcomed the decision of the ICC to launch a formal investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the “State of Palestine.” According to AMP, “This is a long-awaited and a critically important step towards ensuring the rule of law and ending impunity, while ensuring accountability for Israel’s crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.”
We can see the campaign against Israel is not limited to spreading propaganda through the media or creating chaos at the universities, but the same network is also involved in the lawfare against Israel and the U.S.
The question remains, is Ramzy Baroud connected to such network? We can safely assume AMP, who’s leader is also part of DAWN’s Board, is most likely involved. But what do we know about DAWN and Ramzy? We know, Ramzy and DAWN move in the same circles and for example in March 2024, both Ramzy and Sarah were interviewed as part of the same Al Jazeera show, the subject was the media reactions to a UN resolution for a ceasefire. What do you think, another coincidence?
For more on DAWN’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, you can read Eitan’s Fischberger’s post on X. NGO Monitor has also documented DAWNs finances and ties to terrorism for years, including DAWNs lawfare campaign against Israel.
Now back to AMP and its ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2015, an IPT investigation report found that many of the same functions of IAP – fundraising, propaganda and lobbying are now carried out by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). The report also identified at least five AMP officials and speakers who worked in now closed “Palestine Committee” network. The investigation also found that in 2014, AMP joined a coalition of national Islamist groups and formed the “U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations.” Both American Muslim for Palestine (AMP) and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are among the founding members.
One year later, in 2016, in a Congressional testimony by the FDD, AMP was referred to as the “most important sponsor and organizer” of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), another group which is also largely behind the chaos at universities.
According to the testimony by FDD’s Jonathan Schanzer;
“AMP provides speakers, training, printed materials, a so-called “Apartheid Wall,” and grants to SJP activists. AMP even has a campus coordinator on staff whose job is to work directly with SJP and other pro-BDS campus groups across the country.5 According to an email it sent to subscribers, AMP spent $100,000 on campus activities in 2014 alone.”
And most recently, in a 2024 report from the House Oversight Committee, the report concluded that AMP has substantial connections to Hamas through its financial sponsor, the Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, Inc. (AJP), a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The report further revealed that some AMP board members have been involved in fundraising for Hamas-related charities and linked to the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), which sent approximately $12.4 million to support Hamas before it was shut down.
As reported by Canary Mission, On October 7, 2023, Hamas declared war on Israel. On October 8, their supporters declared war on America. “On May 24-26, 2024, the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, Michigan convened more than 3,000 participants from across the U.S., Europe, the West Bank and Gaza, raising more than $165,000 in attendance fees to be forwarded to Gaza.” In the conference Taher Herzallah, associate director of outreach & grassroots organizing for AMP. He was a main organizer and key speaker at the conference. “The conference featured PFLP operative Wissam Rafeedie as a speaker. He participated remotely because he was denied a visa to the U.S.” The attendees made it clear, their goals don’t end with destroying Israel. Their ultimate goal is to “dismantle and bring down the United States, calling for “death to America”.”
As you can see, AMP it is not just simply the 'alter ego' of the already designated terrorist organization, IAP. It is linked to a much wider network of non-profits interconnected by the same individuals, including Ramzy Baroud. All this, facts known to our government for nearly two decades. Despite the knowledge, they all have been allowed to continue operating without scrutiny. What we must understand, all these groups are coordinated to target not only Israel, but also the United States.
AMP’s Legal Battles and Link to Ramzy Baroud
Nearly three decades after David Boim, a 17-year-old American citizen who was studying in Israel, was shot and killed by Hamas terrorists at a bus stop near Jerusalem in 1996, it was announced in November, 2023, that the Boim family was still seeking justice in a Chicago courtroom.
This came after in 2000, the family sued several Chicago-area nonprofits, including the Holy Land Foundation and the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), for providing material support to terrorists and were liable for their son's death under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act. While the family was awarded $156 million in damages, they have faced challenges in collecting the money.
The new lawsuit focuses on whether American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is an "alter ego" of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was found guilty in 2004. The Boims allege that AMP continues to operate with the same leadership, goals, and activities as IAP, even facilitating fundraising for Hamas-linked groups today. Something substantiated by the 2015 IPT report.
Although the information was already available since 2015 from the IPT report, the claims triggered an investigation by the Virginia Attorney General for potential violations of state charitable solicitation laws and for allegedly providing support to terrorist organizations. On January 14, 2025, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed a petition against American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) for refusing to comply with a Civil Investigative Demand issued in October 2023, which is seeking records related to sources of AMP’s fundings.
In addition, another lawsuit was filed in a Virginia district court in May 2024, it seeks damages for nine American and Israeli victims of Hamas’s terror attack of October 7th. The lawsuit was filed against American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP)—alleging they are partially liable for the attack due to their role "as collaborators and propagandists for Hamas."
“On October 8, the day after Hamas’s terrorist attack, AMP and NSJP, funded by WESPAC, were prepared and responded to Hamas’s “call for mass mobilization” by disseminating a manifesto and plan of attack (“NSJP Toolkit”) which includes materials that were created before the attack. In the NSJP Toolkit, AMP and NSJP identify themselves as “PART of” a “Unity Intifada,” governed by Hamas’s “unified command” of terrorist operations in Gaza. As part of Hamas’s movement, AMP and NSJP state that they seek “liberation,” a “real process that requires confrontation by any means necessary,” including “armed struggle” and other acts of violence. “All [resistance] is legitimate, and all of it is necessary.”
This is where it all gets interesting. As part of the lawsuit you have Ramzy Baroud's daughter, Zarefah Baroud, who is named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit against AMP, SJP, and its leadership. In the lawsuit she is alleged to be guilty of producing propaganda for later dissemination among SJP chapters.
Who is Zarefah Baroud?
Zarefah Baroud received her Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications, and later her Master’s degree in Policy Studies, both from the University of Washington. She is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Exeter's European Centre for Palestine Studies. Zarefah, since 2019, works for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) as a digital media associate.
In addition to producing propaganda for AMP and SJP, much like her father , Zarefah Baroud is also involved in media, she contributes to Al-Jazeera, Middle East Monitor, TeleSur and others. Zarefah, again, just like Ramzy, has participated in numerous Samidoun events, including one held at a university in Seattle, in April 2024.
At this particular event she spoke alongside Nida Abu Baker, the daughter of Shukri Abu Baker, co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation. Shukri Abu Baker was convicted to 64 years in prison as part of the Holy Land Foundation case. Ramzy Baroud was very proud of her “good work.”
Can you imagine a father feeling proud that his daughter hangs out with the children of a convicted terrorist? We don’t have to imagine; we just need to look at Ramzy Baroud.
Now, Zarefah’s activities with now designated terror organizations, her friendship with the daughter of a convicted terrorist financier, or her work with AMP, while in the same circle as Ramzy, don’t provide evidence of any direct coordination between the two of them to suggest Ramzy has any involvement in the coordination with Hamas and Universities. Except, Ramzy and Zarefah not only participate in events hosted by the same organizations, but for years, they have participated in events and talks together. (Left Image - Right Image)
One example, in October 2024, Zarefah was a keynote speaker with Ramzy, at an event in Olympia, Washington. The event was titled “Pulse of Palestine: Resistance and Prisoners,” where she referred to the October 7th massacre as the “Al Aqsa Flood,” the name chosen by Hamas for its October 7th terror attack.
AMP’s, Ramzy’s and Zarefah’s activities are not limited to the U.S. alone, they are involved in events all over the world pushing the same anti-Jewish, anti-West and anti-Israel propaganda in Universities, the media and beyond. One such event was in 2021, when international Hamas support groups, including AMP, organized 'Al-Aqsa International Week. Al-Aqsa International Week was hosted by the UK-based Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), in cooperation with the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
Ramzy Baroud, along with AMP leaders and many other individuals linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, spoke at the event, including Raja Abdulhaq, a former AMP volunteer. Raja Abdulhaq, among many things also participated in the encampments at Columbia University, where he defended Hamas and called for the destruction of Israel and the United Sates. He is also the co-founder of a Hamas-linked Quds News Network.
During the event, he also spoke alongside Wafa Aludaini, a female 'activist' and 'journalist' from Gaza. Ramzy speaking at the same event, in itself, is not an important fact, except that in 2022, Zarefah, who refered to Wafa as her friend, traveled to Gaza, and among the many things she did, was speak at events organized by Wafa Aludaini and the “16th October” Group, where Wafa was a “Team Manager”. Who do you think introduced the two of them and arranged for Zarefah to ‘mentor’ children in Wafa’s event, AMP or daddy Ramzy?
The Gaza-based 16th October Group is a group of English-language 'young journalists' and 'activists' dedicated to 'focusing the Western world’s attention' on the 'authentic Palestinian narrative.' Another propaganda enterprise dedicated to ‘Western audiences’, except this one is dedicated to ‘training’ children be part of the propaganda scheme.
‘Coincidentally,’ The Palestine Chronicle also engages children in their 'reporting.' The Palestine Chronicle calls them 'Jr. Correspondents.' This practice raises many questions: Among them, Where is Ramzy getting these children from? Are the children connected to Hamas in some way, as we saw in the latest BBC documentary? Who is Ramzy paying to have children 'report for him?' One thing is clear: Ramzy coordinates with someone in Gaza, beyond his formal employees from the Palestine Chronicle writing and “reporting” for him.
One important revelation that came from Zarefah’s Samidoun event in April 2024 at the University of Seattle was how she revealed that during her 2022 trip to Gaza, she 'extensively interviewed' someone who spent 24 years in an Israeli prison for his “illegal association in military operations” aka, terrorism. She also said that for 'legal reasons,' she couldn’t disclose the name of the person she met with.
Why is this important? First, the obvious: if she can’t name the person for 'legal reasons,' it most likely means what she did, as a U.S. citizen, was illegal—something that should be investigated by the FBI. But her comments also raises other questions: how is a 20-something-year-old girl, born and raised in America, allegedly traveling to Gaza to ‘visit her father’s family’, was able to 'extensively interview' someone who is so important that their name cannot be disclosed? Who in her circle has high enough contacts in Gaza to coordinated such a meeting? Who did she meet with and was Ramzy Baroud involved?
In addition, most recently, last month, Zarefah was a speaker at the Fourth Tawasol Conference, an event organized by the Palestinian Media Forum, the same Hamas linked organization openly coordinating with a network of worldwide media professionals, academics, universities, NGOs, and other organizations around the world, all covered in Part 2. The organization openly states it’s mission is to spreading propaganda against Israel, through a worldwide network of people and organizations, all in “service the Palestinian Cause”, Ramzy is one of the Board of Trustees.
To give you an idea on how the propaganda campaign might work and how the coordination might look like. In 2017, Ramzy was a speaker at Tawasol 3, during his talk he spoke among other things on how the “Palestinian victim” was created as a new narrative for the media, instead of having to justify supporting terrorists groups. The strategy, ‘don’t apologize’, change the narrative and become the ‘victim’.
Now lets see the same tactic getting used at Universities, where someone is trying to turn Hamas, a sadistic terrorist organization, into a “victim.” We can see it in action at an upcoming LSE’s Middle East Centre event, where a book called “Understanding Hamas, and why that matters” will be launched. As described by the event organizers, it is “Designed to stop the intense vilification of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, & its branding as a terrorist organization." Of course Ramzy Baroud has been a speaker at LSE’s Middle East Center in the past.
The level of interconnections between all this non-profits and the possible coordination is not hard to see, and this is only a small part of the connections between all these organizations. While we might not know the specifics, it is clear that the allegations made by the hostages of Hamas coordinating with “allies” in the media and universities, are almost certainly true and Razmy’s involvement in both is very plausible.
If you haven’t, make sure you also read Part 1, where we looked into the claim for the Judge of “insufficient evidence” that Ramzy knew his “journo” keeping hostages was Hamas.
Don’t miss Part 2, where I covered the Palestine Media Forum, Tawasol and its potential part in the coordination between Hamas, Ramzy and the media. As I mentioned in Part 2, I don’t know what the evidence in the case is, but all I can say is that Ramzy, Hamas, and its 'allies in universities and the media' are, in my opinion, clearly coordinating a hate campaign against Israel, the U.S., and the Jews, as alleged by the hostages. Now, considering how AMP, its leaders, and Ramzy’s daughter seem to be at the center of the coordination with the universities, maybe the lawyers behind the case should consider another amendment and include them as defendants.