Virginia: Survivors Sue AMP and SJP

On May 1, 2024, a group of seven American and two Israeli survivors of the October 7, 20223 Hamas terror attack filed a lawsuit against Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation (which operates as American Muslims for Palestine) and National Students for Justice in Palestine, alleging they provided material support to Hamas.

The suit seeks millions in damages and accuses AMP and NSJP of providing "substantial assistance" to Hamas by acting as their domestic propaganda wing during and after the October 7 attacks.

Evidence

The day after the massacre, on October 8, 2023, NSJP distributed to its campus chapters a "Day of Resistance Toolkit," essentially a mobilization guide for campus SJP chapters following the October 7 attacks. The toolkit made a stunning declaration regarding the relationship between Hamas’ student supporters in the U.S. (i.e., NSJP) and the "resistance" in Gaza, stating explicitly, "We as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement."

The movement, which was called the "Unity Intifada," described itself as being "governed by Hamas' “unified command'” of all terrorist operations in Gaza.

“We must continue to resist directly through dismantling Zionism and wielding the political power that our organizations hold on our campuses and in our communities,” the toolkit stated. “We are asking chapters to host demonstrations on campus/in their community in support of our resistance in Palestine and the national liberation struggle – one which they play a critical role in actualizing [sic].”

The kit provided Hamas’ campus supporters with the language to frame the attack, saying that Israeli "settlers are not 'civilians' in the sense of international law." It further said that all forms of resistance, including “armed struggle,” were legitimate. (It is worth noting that all Israeli civilians are considered “settlers” in the eyes of Hamas and its supporters.)

Most pointedly, the toolkit featured templates for posters with images of paragliders (the method used by Hamas terrorists to invade Israel, specifically those that landed near the Nova music festival and proceeded to kill 300 young people). These graphics, along with the toolkit's manifesto-style language, were cited in legal filings as evidence that the toolkit was prepared in advance of the attack.

Support for the Case by U.S. States

A coalition of attorneys general from 25 states filed an amicus brief in support of the case against AMP and NSJP, arguing that the groups provided material support to Hamas.

An amicus brief is a legal filing by parties who are not part of a lawsuit but have an interest in its outcome. While the brief serves to support the victims and ensure that terrorist supporters are brought to justice, the states emphasized in their filing their independent sovereign interest, not just sympathy for the plaintiffs.

As reported by The Jerusalem Post, “What is unusual about the brief is its unusually high cross-state participation, indicating a strong belief in the perceived national importance of the case. The states emphasize their independent sovereign interest, not just sympathy for plaintiffs.”

The amicus brief argues that AMP and NSJP (which was founded by AMP in 2010) should be held accountable for their words and actions, just like Hamas, and describes the “disturbing story of AMP and NSJP serving as the propaganda and recruiting wing of a foreign terrorist organization in the United States.”

The brief also details how AMP was founded by former senior members of the Holy Land Foundation, who were connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and convicted in 2008 for funneling millions of dollars to Hamas in the largest terror financing case in the U.S.

Read our report - The Holy Land Five: Unmasking a Terror Finance Network and Its Modern Defenders

The brief further argued that AMP and NSJP “provide public relations and communications” for Hamas.

Status of the Virginia Case

The case was originally dismissed after the judge ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to establish a sufficient legal connection between the domestic activities of AMP and NSJP and the actions taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.

As of April 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (also located in Virginia) is reviewing an appeal.

New York: Survivors Sue NY-Based Activists and Groups

The same legal team, which includes the National Jewish Advocacy Center, the Schoen Law Firm, Greenberg Traurig LLP and the Holtzman Vogel Law Firm, filed a parallel lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on March 25, 2025, on behalf of 40 victims of the October 7 attack.

The suit targets leading New York-based anti-Israel activists and their representatives:

• Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and its leader, Nerdeen Kiswani
• Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and its representative, Maryam Alwan
• Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and its representative, Cameron Jones
• Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and its representative, Mahmoud Khalil

The lawsuit is seeking damages from these activists for aiding and abetting Gaza's terrorist organizations, essentially acting as Hamas operatives by issuing protest and propaganda materials as the massacre unfolded, which the suit calls a “terror-by-propaganda strategy.” It also charges that these groups and leaders had prior knowledge of the massacre.

The victims are requesting compensation and punitive damages over the alleged coordination between Hamas and its affiliates, and for providing material to support the terrorist organization’s public relations operations.

Evidence

Columbia SJP's Instagram account, which was dormant for months before the attack, was reactivated at approximately 11:27 p.m. EST on October 6, 2023, just three minutes before the Hamas assault began at 6:30 a.m. in Israel on October 7. SJP posted, "We are back!!" and that followers should "Stay tuned."

According to one ex-hostage, Hamas captors described the campus groups as their operatives. Shlomi Ziv, a rescued Israeli hostage, stated his captors "bragged" about having Hamas operatives on American campuses and showed him footage of student protests at Columbia University organized by the defendants.

Ziv said his captors showed him news reports about Columbia and told him, “We have our people everywhere.”

On October 7 at midnight, 83 SJP chapters, including Columbia’s, signed and disseminated a statement in support of Hamas, leading to accusations that the content must have been drafted, reviewed and signed by these organizations “before and/or during the events of October 7 themselves.”

Kiswani is accused of publishing the above-mentioned “Day of Resistance Toolkit” with its October 7-themed graphics on October 7, a day before the toolkit was released.

The suit alleges that Columbia SJP, Columbia JVP, CUAD and WOL utilized the toolkit as part of their “direct response” to repeated Hamas calls for “mass mobilization.”

Reporting on the lawsuit by The Jerusalem Post details the strategy used by Hamas and its American representatives named in the case,

“The groups allegedly implemented the three-part Hamas grand strategy that works as follows: Terrorists conduct indiscriminate terrorist attacks against civilians to provoke a response that endangers Palestinian civilians who are used by Hamas as human shields.

“Either Israel cannot launch military actions due to concern about harming civilians, or the human shields are killed, which caters to Hamas’s propaganda goals. Hamas then manipulates the situation by using propaganda to demonize Israel, legitimize its efforts, and cast itself as the victim.”

When Hamas called for a global December 11 strike for Gaza, NSJP posted the same day on Instagram that they were striking “in solidarity with the Palestinian people as they demand a permanent ceasefire and a liberated Palestine free from colonial apartheid.”

Support from Attorneys General

As in the Virginia case, the case received significant support from attorneys general of 21 states, who are petitioning the court to file an amicus brief on behalf of the victims.

As reported by The Times of Israel, “The attorneys general argued that the statements and protests amounted to material support for Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, in violation of the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, and that it was in their states’ broader interest to oppose terrorism.”

Status of the New York Case

As of April 2026, the case is active in the Southern District of New York.

Ami Horowitz vs AMP and NSJP

On April 24, 2025, Ami Horowitz, a documentary filmmaker, videographer and civil rights activist, filed a lawsuit against AMP and NSJP in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The suit seeks damages for civil conspiracy to commit assault and battery for the alleged mob attack Horowitz suffered at the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" at the City College of New York (CCNY) on April 26, 2024.

The Assault

On April 25, 2024, over 200 members of NSJP's chapters and affiliates at CUNY (City University of New York) gathered to set up an encampment in a public square at CUNY's CCNY (City College of New York) campus. The next day, Horowitz, carrying an American flag, entered the campus to film a video.

According to the lawsuit, a mob of protestors from the encampment swarmed Horowitz, ripped the flag from his hands, smashed it on the ground and began beating him. The attack occurred during the middle of the day, in broad daylight and in full view of the surrounding campus, the encampment and hundreds of onlookers. The mob's members kicked, punched and headbutted Horowitz, aiming strikes at his throat, spleen and kidney.

Still beating him, the mob knocked him to the ground and shoved him down a set of nearby stairs. Horowitz managed to get up and run back to retrieve his flag. At this point, the mob grabbed him again and continued beating him, after which they pushed him off a ledge of a nearby retaining wall. Horowitz got up and ran back to retrieve the flag again. Again, he was grabbed, punched, kicked and headbutted by the mob.

After this third round of mob beating, officers from CUNY's campus police and the NYPD arrived and detained Horowitz without detaining anyone from the mob.

As a result of the attack, Horowitz suffered bruises and wounds and underwent an exam at an urgent care facility. Since the attack, Horowitz has received physical therapy for his arm and shoulder, which were injured and continue to bother him.

Why Sue AMP and NSJP

The lawsuit charges that in April 2024, AMP and NSJP began a large-scale operation coordinating, guiding and commanding NSJP's network of campus chapters to engage in protests and build solidarity encampments to support Hamas. The goal of the encampments, which broke university rules, was to participate in civil disobedience to force universities to divest from and denounce Israel.

The suit documents AMP’s and NSJP’s role in fomenting the campus unrest, which ultimately created the conditions for Horowitz’s assault. For example, on April 24, 2024, AMP's Executive Director, Osama Abuirshaid, visited the encampment at Columbia University, where he delivered a fiery speech to the protesters.

In the speech, Abuirshaid declared to the protestors that there was a "war" on them in America against their First Amendment rights and that the police were repressing them. He shouted that AMP and the protestors were "going to continue to fight" until they achieved their political goals.

The day after Abuirshaid visited Columbia’s encampment, Columbia protesters helped protesters at CCNY build their own encampment.

The suit details how NSJP, AMP's on-campus brand, was created to manage and control a network of chapter and affiliate organizations across hundreds of campuses on behalf of AMP for the purpose of serving its political aims.

Status of the Case

On April 1, 2026, the judge in the case, Andrew L. Carter Jr., ruled that Horowitz’s civil conspiracy claim could proceed; however, he dismissed the claim against AMP and NSJP for aiding and abetting assault and battery.

The court granted Horowitz until April 10, 2026, to file an amended complaint to address certain deficiencies in the original filing, which he did.

The judge initially questioned whether the court had jurisdiction over NSJP (an unincorporated association), but ultimately allowed the case to continue after additional justification was provided.

Due to difficulties in serving the complaint directly on NSJP, the court decided it could be served through publication in major newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.

How AMP and NSJP Can Be Held Liable for Civil Conspiracy

To claim civil conspiracy, a person must demonstrate the primary tort (a harm or loss to a person resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the act) plus four other elements:

• An agreement between two or more parties
• An overt act in furtherance of the agreement
• The parties' intentional participation in the furtherance of a plan or purpose
• Resulting damage or injury.

Addressing these conditions, Horwitz alleges:

• There was an agreement between AMP and the co-conspirators – namely, that AMP organized and supported the encampment where Horowitz was attacked.
  
  In addition, a few months before the attack on Horowitz, AMP hosted a program called "Campus Activism Track," an intensive training for its campus organizations to "provide [students] with the tools and resources [they] need to strengthen pro-Palestinian presence on [their] campus."
  
  In addition, AMP encouraged the use of violence in defense of the encampments.
  
• Re: an overt act: AMP's co-conspirators' attack on Horowitz was in defense of their encampments in furtherance of their plan to take over college campuses.
  
• Re: intentional participation: AMP intentionally participated in the common plan to defend the encampments. AMP not only issued directives to the encampments but also provided funding, training resources and social media support for the encampments.
  
  Further, AMP's Executive Director Osama Abuirshaid visited the Columbia encampment and gave a speech in which he encouraged protestors to "fight."
  
• Re: damages or injury: Horowitz suffered bruises and wounds, had to go to an urgent care facility and has needed physical therapy for his arm and shoulder to this day.

Florida Case Against SJP

In May 2024, Shurat HaDin, an Israeli NGO, filed a lawsuit against NSJP and AMP in the Middle District of Florida on behalf of eight families who were victims of the October 7 attack. The suit, which involved a total of 60 victims, alleges that NSJP and AMP act as the domestic "propaganda arm" and "terrorist wing" for Hamas in the U.S.

The suit argues that SJP is a network established and supported by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and that SJP, in turn, provides direct material support and resources to Hamas in violation of the law.

It further charges that SJP was established to spread its terrorist agenda among impressionable college students. It also describes how SJP is the successor organization to other organizations, i.e., The Holy Land Foundation, which has been designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the Department of Justice.

The suit relies on:

• The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), the primary legal vehicle from which compensatory and punitive damages can be sought for American survivors and families of those murdered
• The Alien Tort Statute, which is used to bring claims for violations of international law on behalf of foreign nationals
• The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Shurat HaDin is urging the U.S. Attorney General to investigate SJP for potential FARA violations

Status of the Case

Shurat HaDin is pushing for discovery to prove the alleged financial and operative links between the organizations and Hamas, while the plaintiffs are trying to get the case dismissed.