Ramzy Baroud’s Memoir Details Relatives’ Extensive Hamas Ties
Baroud’s memoir details relatives’ ties to Hamas as former Israeli hostages sue The Palestine Chronicle over alleged payments to a Hamas operative they say held them captive in Gaza
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Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of the Washington state-based Palestine Chronicle, has placed relatives’ Hamas-linked history at the center of his newest book while the U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit behind his media outlet remains embroiled in a federal lawsuit brought by three former Israeli hostages. Analyst Leslie Kajomovitz reviewed Baroud’s memoir in an X post, highlighting its account of relatives who joined Hamas and fought in Gaza.
Baroud’s Before the Flood traces the al-Badrasawi branch of his family through Gaza’s wars and into Hamas, while the lawsuit alleges that Palestine Chronicle writer Abdallah Aljamal was a Hamas operative who held Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov captive in his family home. A federal judge allowed the amended case to proceed past a motion to dismiss, holding that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that the defendants knew Aljamal was affiliated with Hamas and continued compensating him after October 7.
A Memoir Centered on a Hamas Figure
Baroud’s publisher describes Before the Flood as a multigenerational Gaza family memoir focused on the al-Badrasawi family. Promotional material for the book says Ehab al-Badrasawi joined Hamas after the death of his younger brother Wael and that the story moves toward October 7 as Ehab’s son and nephew also “join the fight.”
In her review of the book, analyst Leslie Kajomovitz highlighted what she described as Baroud’s account of the al-Badrasawi family’s movement into the orbit of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’s co-founder and spiritual leader, and Ehab’s rise as a central figure in the family’s militant history.
According to Kajomovitz, the memoir describes Ehab as joining Hamas at a young age, spending time in Israeli prison with senior Hamas figures, serving as a bodyguard for Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, helping build Hamas tunnels, recruiting for the Nukhba forces of the al-Qassam Brigades, and participating in Hamas’s naval commando force. She also wrote that Baroud’s account links Ehab, one of his sons, and a nephew in the Nukhba force to the October 7 attacks.
In a May 14 interview with Chris Hedges, Baroud described Ehab as a relative from the Badrasawi branch of his family and said Ehab began attending lectures by Yassin after Wael’s death. Baroud also stated that Ehab later “blew himself up,” followed by his sons Abdulrahman and Muhammad.
The Lawsuit Against Palestine Chronicle
The amended complaint in Jan v. People Media Project names Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov as plaintiffs. All three were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and were held for 246 days before being rescued from Abdallah Aljamal’s home, according to the court’s summary of the allegations.
The court summarized the amended complaint as alleging that Aljamal had written for The Palestine Chronicle since 2019, while also serving as an official spokesperson for Hamas’s Ministry of Labor. The plaintiffs further alleged that after October 7, Aljamal’s Palestine Chronicle output increased sharply, with two to three pieces per day, and that the defendants communicated with him through electronic means to receive and publish his work.
The disclosures in Baroud’s memoir sharpen due-diligence questions surrounding the outlet, as Baroud faces a federal lawsuit alleging that The Palestine Chronicle knowingly continued working with and compensating an alleged Hamas-linked contributor after October 7.