Israeli hostages against US media: “Shut down the system”

Almok Meir Jan was released from a hostage situation in Gaza in early June. He is now suing the US site linked to the hostages.

After being freed by the Israeli armed forces in early June: Almok Meir Zan hugs his mother, Orit Meir Photo: Israeli Army

Jerusalem taz | Almok Meir John was rescued in early June. The Israeli army freed him and three others from hostages in the Nusirat camp in central Gaza during the Novah festival on October 7. Soon, the first articles emerge: Meir Jan is said to have been arrested by Abdullah al-Jamal, the spokesman for the Ministry of Labor in Gaza and a reporter for the Palestine Chronicle, a US-based, pro-Palestinian media outlet.

Mir Jan's uncle, Aviram Meyer, says: When he saw the articles, he went to his nephew and showed him the articles with Al Jamal's picture on them. “I asked him: Do you recognize this man? And he said: Yes”.

A short time later, a law firm in the United States contacted him and suggested that the family sue the NGO behind the Palestine Chronicle. Meir Jan agrees, and the Jewish National Advocacy Center (JNAC) files a civil suit on his behalf against the People Media Project, the NGO behind the Palestine Chronicle.

Conservative American media Fox News Quoted from the lawsuit: Under Palestine Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Ramzi Barood and People's Media Program Director John Harvey, the Palestine Chronicle provided “Hamas agent Al Jamal” with a platform to “write Hamas propaganda” in the United States. Additionally, the defendants allowed Al Jamal to solicit “international support” for Hamas.

Tax exempt in the US

People Media Project is registered as a charity in the US and is therefore tax exempt. According to the Palestine Chronicle website, the organization's mission is to “inform the public by providing a forum to shed light on issues related to human rights, national struggles, freedom and democracy.” Because of its charitable status, American taxpayers subsidized the Palestine Chronicle's publications, they said. Fox News More from the statement.

“The purpose of the lawsuit,” says Aviram Meyer, “is to dry up funding and eventually force the organization behind the Palestine Chronicle to shut down.” However, this cannot be proven beyond doubt. A left-wing Israeli newspaper quoted a lawyer involved in the case Haaretz So: the lawsuit was filed to “expose a network of Hamas-affiliated PR fronts operating in the United States.”

JNAC has already filed several lawsuits on behalf of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack, for example in the United States against UNRWA, the “National Students for Justice in Palestine” or the “American Muslims for Palestine” association. The media itself interprets the allegations against al-Jamal as a “coordinated hate campaign” by “Israeli and pro-Israel media”: Israel's “story” focuses on al-Jamal and his family. There is no evidence that Al Jamal held any prisoners.

Quiet distance

The Palestine Chronicle does not seem entirely convinced of its employee's innocence and quietly walks away from him. Al Jamal is now referred to as a “contributor” on the website. The Wayback Machine online archive shows that he was previously listed as a “reporter”. According to a report Wall Street Journal, Very few neighbors were close to them about the hostages. However, the Al Jamal family is known to be close to Hamas.

The Palestine Chronicle published an obituary for Al Jamal on its website. In it, the media also mentions the deaths of several Palestinians as a result of the rescue of the four hostages. According to Palestinian reports, more than 270 people died and many were injured. Some of them are definitely Hamas fighters. Due to the nature of refugee camps such as Nusirat, which have been frequent since 1948 – densely built and accommodating many people in a few square meters – many civilians can also be assumed to have been affected.