A federal judge in Seattle has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Almog Meir Jan, a former Israeli hostage who was rescued during Operation Arnon, against a US-based pro-Palestinian Arab media company, which he accused of aiding Hamas by employing one of its members and publishing his work.
According to Courthouse News Service, US District Judge Tiffany Cartwright ruled that Jan failed to demonstrate that the company was aware its employee was a Hamas member engaged in human rights violations.
Additionally, she determined that the articles published by the Palestine Chronicle are protected under the First Amendment.
“Because Jan’s complaint does not allege actual knowledge, his compensation allegations must be dismissed,” Cartwright stated in her 24-page order.
Jan was abducted from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, as part of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
In his lawsuit, Jan alleged that the People Media Project—the parent company of the Palestine Chronicle—provided his captor, Abdallah Aljamal, with “support and a US-based platform to publish Hamas propaganda under the guise of independent journalism.” The Palestine Chronicle is headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, a town in western Washington.
Filed under the Alien Tort Statute, a law from 1789 allowing foreign nationals to bring civil tort claims, Jan accused the media company, its editor-in-chief, and its manager of aiding and abetting Hamas by employing Aljamal and publishing his articles.
“In this case, potential foreign relations consequences and traditional deference to Congress should not preclude Jan from pursuing his claims of accomplice liability under the [Alien Tort Statute,]” Cartwright wrote.
However, because Jan’s case was against private US defendants, it avoided some of the complications seen in other Alien Tort Statute claims, Cartwright noted. The media company contended that Jan’s allegations involved “non-justiciable political questions,” but the judge disagreed.
“Nowhere in Jan’s complaint does he allege that defendants gave Aljamal money for the purpose of committing terrorism or aiding Hamas,” Cartwright wrote. “Instead, he seeks to hold them liable for compensating Aljamal for writing articles, because Aljamal used that money to enable Jan’s imprisonment.”
Cartwright warned that without requiring actual knowledge, journalists and organizations operating in conflict zones could be unfairly held responsible if a local hire later committed a human rights violation.
Despite dismissing the lawsuit, Cartwright granted Jan until February 21 to amend his complaint if he wishes to pursue his claims further.