(TJV NEWS) According to a report from the New York Post, citing new court filings, Hamas militants psychologically tormented Israeli hostages by showing them news coverage and images of antisemitic protests at Columbia University. Freed hostage Shlomi Ziv claims he was shown stories and pictures from the demonstrations while being held captive in Gaza.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that protest organizers at Columbia acted as de facto operatives for Hamas, serving as part of the group’s broader propaganda efforts. The New York Times reported that during his 246-day captivity, Ziv was told by his captors, “You see, we have our own people everywhere,” referencing the protests at the Ivy League school. They allegedly claimed Hamas maintains a propaganda “army” that spreads its message in the U.S., including through American universities.

Ziv, who was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that killed roughly 1,200 people and saw hundreds taken hostage, is now a plaintiff in the suit. He said he was shown content from Al Jazeera and other media outlets covering the Columbia protests and that his captors boasted about Hamas having sympathizers embedded in U.S. academia.

The amended complaint, brought on behalf of former hostages, families of those killed, and Israeli military personnel, asserts that Columbia protest leaders acted as “foot soldiers” for Hamas. Defendants named include campus groups like Within Our Lifetime, United for Palestine, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace, along with individual organizers.

The lawsuit claims these groups helped carry out a strategy to disrupt the university’s operations in support of Hamas, with some Jewish students reporting feeling intimidated or unsafe due to the campus protests. Columbia has been one of many American colleges that have seen intense pro-Palestinian activism following the Oct. 7 attacks, including encampments, building occupations, and students burning diplomas in protest.

Ziv and others allege they were subjected to near-daily physical abuse and starvation while in captivity. He was eventually rescued in a military operation in Gaza in June 2024.