A federal judge in Illinois has scheduled a Feb. 8, 2027, trial to determine whether the American Muslims for Palestine group can be held legally responsible for the 1996 murder of American teenager David Boim, according to a court document obtained by Jewish Insider. The landmark case could establish whether U.S. organizations are liable for funding Hamas terror operations.

In May 1996, 17-year-old David Boim, an American studying abroad at a yeshiva in Israel, was shot and killed by two Hamas terrorists at a bus stop. Boim was one of the first Americans killed by Hamas, which the U.S. later designated as a foreign terrorist organization. His murder sparked a decades-long legal battle as his parents, Stanley and Joyce Boim, have sought to hold the perpetrators and their alleged financial backers accountable through the American court system. 

In 2017, Daniel Schlessinger, the Boims’ lead attorney, filed a lawsuit against AMP, 

a leading anti-Israel advocacy group with alleged ties to Hamas. The lawsuit accuses AMP of acting as an “alter ego” of the Islamic Association for Palestine, a now-defunct group that shut down after it was found to have provided material support to Hamas. 

AMP describes itself as “a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the movement for justice in Palestine by educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage and through grassroots mobilization and advocacy.” But the nonprofit has come under renewed scrutiny since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza — in large part due to its ties to anti-Israel protests on college campuses. 

After a 2004 landmark decision, the Boim family was awarded $156 million under the Anti-Terrorism Act to be paid by U.S.-based groups, including the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and IAP, for providing material support to Hamas. The ruling established a precedent — organizations financing terrorist groups could now face significant civil liability and criminal penalties. After the ruling, the IAP ceased operations, and the Holy Land Foundation later closed after the U.S. government designated it a terrorist front. 

Although a judge had previously ruled that AMP could not be considered what is legally described as an “alter ego” of the earlier organization, the ruling was overturned in 2022 and the case was reopened.

Next year’s trial could further “pave the way for American families who have been the victims of terror, in particular those killed or taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attacks, to seek justice in federal courts across the United States,” Schlessinger told JI. 

Thirty years after Boim’s murder, Joyce Boim said she “still feels the pain every day” over the loss of her son. 

“It is incredible to me that Hamas and the terrorist depravity it stands for continue to gain support around the world, including in the U.S.,” she said. “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.”