New York: In a shocking revelation, a lawsuit filed by victims of the October 7 attack has disclosed that Hamas kidnappers informed rescued hostage Shlomi Ziv about the presence of operatives on American campuses. According to Ziv, the terrorists showed him articles and pictures of protests that took place at Columbia University, The Jerusalem Post reported.

In the lawsuit filed at the Southern District Court of New York, Ziv stated that his Hamas captors referred to protests planned by terrorists when discussing their American operatives. The case is filed against groups like Within Our Lifetime (WOL), Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and various individuals involved in these organizations.

Ziv, who was working as a security guard at the Nova Music Festival, had heroically fended off terrorists and evacuated festival-goers before being taken hostage. He was held captive in Gaza for 246 days before being rescued in an Israel Defence Force (IDF) operation last year, alongside three other captives.

The lawsuit alleges that Columbia SJP had renewed its Instagram activity shortly before the attack, with National SJP seemingly presenting Hamas-affiliated propaganda material. It further claims that these groups were financed and supported by Hamas through organizations the terrorist group founded.

The complaint mentions that the Palestine Committee, created by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in 1988, provided funding and support for Hamas's operations, creating arms like the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and the Islamic Association for Palestine. The group American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is said to have played a crucial role in the development of these organizations, with AMP sponsoring the first National SJP convention.

Columbia SJP, a chapter of the National SJP, and WOL, a rebranded version of New York City Students for Justice in Palestine, are said to have close ties to each other, with Columbia JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace) allegedly used to cover up the antisemitic charges leveled against the groups.

According to the lawsuit, statements made by Shlomi Ziv's Hamas captor suggest that Hamas and AMP/NSJP provided financial, organizational, and other forms of support to Columbia's organizations such as CUAD (Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace), which organized protests. Khalil, a representative of CUAD, is currently at the center of the U.S. federal government's campaign to deport pro-Hamas activists.

CUAD, WOL, and Columbia SJP have reportedly expressed support for armed political violence. The lawsuit further claims that these groups collaborated with entities like Samidoun, which is sanctioned by the U.S. as a branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

In March of the previous year, these groups hosted Charlotte Kates, Samidoun International Coordinator, and Khaled Barakat, a senior official of PFLP, at a "Resistance 101" lecture. During the event, Barakat was quoted as saying that he speaks to members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and PFLP, and emphasized the importance of American student support for Palestinian groups over U.S. political figures. Kates, meanwhile, controversially stated that there was "nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, being a leader of Hamas, being a fighter in Hamas," and praised their role in fighting for Palestinian liberation. ANI