Palestine Chronicle Editor Says Relative Was Hamas Commander Who Carried Out Suicide Attack
The disclosure comes as The Palestine Chronicle faces a lawsuit alleging it employed Hamas operative Abdallah Aljamal while Israeli hostages were held in his family home
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In a recent interview, Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of the U.S-501(c)(3), The Palestine Chronicle, described a relative from the Badrasawi branch of his family, as having served as head of the northern command of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades.
According to Baroud’s account, Al-Badrasawi played a key role in the Shati refugee camp battle during the Israel-Hamas war and “blew himself up” after firing on an Israeli tank, followed by his sons Abdulrahman and Muhammad.
The disclosure comes as People Media Project, doing business as The Palestine Chronicle, faces a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Washington alleging the organization employed Abdallah Aljamal while three Israeli civilians were held hostage inside his family home in Gaza.
The Rescue in Nuseirat
Israeli authorities said Abdallah Aljamal, whom the IDF described as a Hamas operative, held Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov in his family home in Nuseirat.
The same operation also rescued Noa Argamani, who had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and became one of the most recognizable faces of the hostage crisis. Unlike the three men, Argamani was reportedly held separately in an apartment about 200 meters away from the home where Israeli authorities said Aljamal held Jan, Ziv, and Kozlov.
The Writer at the Center of the Case
The lawsuit alleges that Aljamal began working for The Palestine Chronicle in May 2019 and that the outlet regularly published his articles. It also alleges that Aljamal served as an official spokesperson for Hamas’s Ministry of Labor and that the defendants knew he was affiliated with Hamas.
According to the court’s summary of the amended complaint, the plaintiffs allege Aljamal’s social media included Hamas-linked imagery before October 7 and posts praising the October 7 attack afterward. They also allege that The Palestine Chronicle’s contacts with Aljamal increased after the massacre, with his output rising to “two to three pieces per day.”
The plaintiffs further allege that the defendants communicated with Aljamal through electronic means, including WhatsApp and Skype, to coordinate his publications after October 7. The court emphasized that these were allegations taken as true at the motion-to-dismiss stage, not factual findings after trial.
Baroud’s Associations & Pro-Terror Statements
Baroud is listed as a non-resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs, or CIGA, at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. CIGA is directed by Sami Al-Arian, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Public social media posts published by Baroud have included him celebrating Hamas October 7 massacre and sharing images that glorify members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another designated terrorist organization.
The Washington Nonprofit Behind The Palestine Chronicle
People Media Project is a Washington nonprofit that operates The Palestine Chronicle. In June 2024, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith urged the IRS to revoke People Media Project’s tax-exempt status in a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel.
Tax filings reviewed through ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer show People Media Project reported $73,237 in revenue and $43,732 in expenses for fiscal year 2023, all from contributions. In fiscal year 2024, revenue rose to $127,892 and expenses to $76,148, again with contributions accounting for 100% of listed revenue. The 2024 filing listed Ramzy Baroud as president, Romana Rubeo as director, and John Harvey as treasurer, with Baroud and Rubeo receiving $14,400 and $9,600 in compensation, respectively.
Baroud’s Family Disclosure Adds New Scrutiny to Pending Lawsuit
Baroud’s remarks add a new, publicly sourced fact to the scrutiny surrounding People Media Project: the nonprofit’s president and editor-in-chief has described a close family relative as having held a senior role in Hamas’s military wing. The disclosure sharpens the questions already raised by the pending lawsuit, which alleges that The Palestine Chronicle knowingly worked with and compensated Aljamal while Israeli hostages were being held in his family home.