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By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Organizers and supporters of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University were sued on Monday in Manhattan federal court for allegedly functioning as Hamas' "propaganda arm" and "in-house public relations firm" in New York City and on campus.
The lawsuit was filed by nine U.S. and Israeli citizens who were victims of Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, including relatives of people murdered or taken hostage, and two affiliated with Columbia who reported mistreatment there.
They accused the defendants of having since 2023 coordinated their efforts with Hamas, which the U.S. State Department deems a terrorist group, to further its attacks.
The defendants include Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead the Columbia demonstrations and was a negotiator between university administrators and the student group coalition and co-defendant Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
Other defendants include Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine ("CSJP"), Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace, and some of their leaders.
"It would be illegal for Hamas to directly retain a public relations firm in the United States or hire enforcers to impose their will on American cities," the complaint said. "Yet those are precisely the services that the [defendant groups] knowingly provide to Hamas."
The plaintiffs also accused some group defendants "on information and belief" of having prior knowledge of Hamas' attack. They cited the timing and substance of statements made shortly before, during and after it occurred, including a CSJP post on Instagram three minutes before the attack that said "We are back!!"
The defendants or lawyers who have represented them in Columbia-related litigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Khalil's lawyers have said he has no links to Hamas. The Trump administration is trying to deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident, who is being detained in Louisiana.
Mark Goldfeder, a lawyer at the National Jewish Advocacy Center representing the plaintiffs, in an email said the defendants' coordinating activities with Hamas were known because they have said so repeatedly.
"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."
The civil lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating U.S. antiterrorism law and the law of nations, and seeks unspecified compensatory, punitive and triple damages.
It was filed three days after Columbia agreed to change its policies toward protesters and security, and begin a review of academic Middle East programs at various departments.
The changes were part of an effort to restore $400 million of federal funding that U.S. President Donald Trump pulled over allegations that Columbia tolerated antisemitism.
The case is Haggai et al v Kiswani et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 25-02400.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
