A groundbreaking lawsuit initiated by the parents of the first American victim of Hamas may finally put an end to the flow of funds from U.S. groups to the terrorist organization.
David Boim, a teenager originally from Brooklyn, was tragically shot in Jerusalem 30 years ago this week. His parents, Joyce and Stanley Boim, first took legal action in a federal court in Chicago back in 2000, and the case has persisted over the years.
In 2004, the Boim family was awarded $156 million in damages after a judge determined that two charities—the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF)—were acting as fundraising entities for Hamas.
However, they were unable to collect the awarded amount. Following the announcement of the damages, these organizations shut down and allegedly re-emerged as “alter ego” entities, as indicated in court documents.
In the years since, the Boims have continued their legal battle against institutions involving prominent former members of the IAP and HLF.
Legal experts are closely monitoring this case, as its outcome could set a significant precedent for families of other victims of terrorist attacks seeking justice.
“This case could pave the way for American families, who have been the victims of terror, in particular those killed or taken hostage in the October 7 attacks [which killed 56 Americans], to seek justice in federal courts across the United States,” said Daniel Schlessinger, the lead attorney in the Boim case.
Many of the IAP members became associated with American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which was founded in 2006 and helped organize anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the country, according to court papers.
“The Boims are entitled to have their claim — that American Muslims for Palestine, as an alter ego of the Islamic Association and Holy Land Foundation, is liable,” reads a 2021 decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
In addition to AMP, the Boims are also suing former IAP president Rafeeq Jaber, who has also been tied to AMP, court documents say.
Jaber was AMP’s tax preparer “which made him privy to board-level decisions for the organization,” court papers say.
In the Boim case, court documents showed Jaber, who runs a tax preparation service in Illinois, testified that as IAP president, he supported the HLF “in every way” and sent all the cash that IAP raised at annual celebrations of the “Intifada” or uprising against Israel to HLF, which was based in Texas.
He also testified IAP supported Hamas’s political head, Mousa Abu Marzook, a founder of HLF in the US, after officials arrested him at JFK Airport in 1995 on an Israeli warrant.
Marzook was on a terrorist watchlist and was linked by Israeli authorities to several terrorist attacks in the country. He was also on IAP’s board of directors.
Jaber was also one of the founding board members of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Last year, the governors of Texas and Florida designated CAIR as a terrorist organization, with Texas banning the group from purchasing land. CAIR is suing both administrations. It has called the designation an “unconstitutional” and “defamatory” proclamation.
CAIR, AMP and Jaber did not respond to requests for comment from The Post. AMP and CAIR have previously denied they send any money they raise out of the US.
In 2024, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability began a probe of AMP’s alleged role in funding Students for Justice in Palestine, a related campus group that was behind protests against Israel on college campuses in the US.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani founded a chapter of SJP at Bowdoin College, and still collects residuals from a rap song he wrote, “Salaam,” praising five HLF members convicted of financing terror. Last year, he made more than $1,600 from the song, according to financial disclosures.
For Joyce Boim, 80, such support for groups that were convicted of financing the terrorist strike against her son is dispiriting.
“It is incredible to me that Hamas and the terrorist depravity it stands for continue to gain support around the world, including in the US,” she told The Post last week.
Her lawyer added that some of David Boim’s friends joined the Israeli Defense Forces, and died fighting in Gaza after October 7.
“We are as determined as ever to pursue our case and obtain a small measure of justice for David, while also helping in the battle to fight Islamic terrorism,” Joyce Boim said.
