BOTHELL—The National Jewish Advocacy Center represented by Holtzman Vogel Law Firm, has submitted an official request to both the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to launch an investigation into the leadership of local news outlet, The Palestine Chronicle, for “providing material support” to Hamas that was designated an Islamic militant Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department on October 8, 1997.
On Saturday, June 8, Israeli Special Forces raided the central Gazan home of Abdallah Aljamal, a “correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle” and successfully rescued three Israeli hostages— Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41—taken from the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. Aljamal, his father and members of his family, were among the 236 people killed in the rescue operation.
The Palestine Chronicle, an English language U.S.-based news outlet, regularly published submitted content by Aljamal—14 pieces for the month of May alone—on the Israel-Gaza War, specifically in Nuseirat where the hostages were rescued, and Aljamal lived. Aljamal was known in Arab media as a spokesman for the Hamas-run Ministry of Labor, according to the Times of Israel. Israeli military posted to social media that they confirmed Aljamal was a terrorist operative for Hamas.
צה"ל: בדיקות העלו כי העיתונאי העזתי עבדאללה ג'מל שהחזיק בשלושה מהחטופים ששוחררו הוא פעיל חמאס, גם בני משפחתו היו בבית כמגן אנושי@Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/Xni15Jon4H
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 9, 2024
“Hamas relies on its propagandists around the world to do its bidding, including instigating a culture of violence and fear to sway global institutions to behave in Hamas’s favor,” the request for an investigation to federal authorities by the National Jewish Advocacy Center reads. “Global propaganda, particularly directed at the West and the United States, is not merely one small part of Hamas’s broader strategy: it is Hamas’s grand strategy.”
Center stage are Ramzy Baroud, 51, of Bothell, and John Harvey, 60, of Olympia. Baroud is Editor-in-Chief and Harvey the General Manager of The Palestine Chronicle. The news outlet operates under a nonprofit 501(c)(3), register with the Internal Revenue Service and incorporated in the state of Washington, called People Media Project.
People Media Project operates out of the home of Harvey in Olympia according to Secretary of State filings but accepts donations to a Mountlake Terrace P.O. Box that is three-and-half miles from the Bothell home of Baroud, the company’s President. Its mission statement reads:
“The Palestine Chronicle is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the general public by providing a forum that strives to highlight issues of relevance to human rights, national struggles, freedom and democracy in the form of daily news, commentary, features, TV programs, podcasts, book reviews, photos, art, in addition to media and other speaking engagements.”
The filing by National Jewish Advocacy Center alleges “The Palestine Chronicle knowingly participated in this strategy [of Global propaganda] by giving one of Hamas’s official spokesmen an outlet to spread Hamas’ disinformation—an outlet supported by U.S. taxpayer money, no less—while he [Aljamal] was still holding civilians hostage.”
🧵DID HE KNOW? WE DESERVE AN ANSWER
The spotlight has been focused on the @PalestineChron after it was revealed that its journalist Abdallah Aljamal had been holding 3 Israeli hostages in his family home
The outlet's editor @RamzyBaroud is a mouthpiece for Islamic terror pic.twitter.com/V3GuMJsOry
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) June 11, 2024
It further alleges that under the leadership of Baroud, The Palestine Chronicle in addition to providing a platform for Aljamal to spread terrorist propaganda, may have provided other support and assistance for his work knowing he was an official spokesman for Hamas.
“The law bars Americans, as well as American entities, from knowingly providing material support to Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Under 18 U.S.C. § 23398, ‘Whoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this tide or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life,” National Jewish Advocacy Center wrote.
The New York Post reported that although Aljamal had previously written a column for Al Jazeera in 2019, he was not an employee of the Qatar-based news outlet.
🧵BREAKING: Attorneys for The National Jewish Advocacy Center are asking the FBI and the DOJ to open an investigation into the WA-based 501C3 @PalestineChron after 3 Israeli hostages were rescued from the family home of their journalist Abdallah Aljamal pic.twitter.com/yNDMs9FbrX
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) June 10, 2024
