The anti-Semitic attorney who helped lift anti-Israel Columbia University students' suspensions has a history of representing terrorists and recently mourned the death of his "friend," top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Besides the Columbia students, attorney Stanley Cohen's clients have included a Hamas cofounder and Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law. Cohen has also repeatedly posed for pictures with Hamas honchos and defended the terrorist group's violence.
"Hamas is not a person. It is not a movement. It is not an ideology," Cohen wrote while mourning Haniyeh's July 31 assassination. "It is the winds of freedom, justice and equality that can never be stolen from the hearts and souls of millions."
"Brother Ismail … Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un," he continued, quoting a verse from the Koran that translates as "Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we return."
— Juan Enrique Juarez Fernandes (@JuanEnriqueJua6) August 2, 2024
In April, Cohen began representing 16 Columbia students who were suspended over their involvement in "Palestinian Resistance 101," an event that featured terror-linked speakers who lauded violence against Jews. Those who refused to comply with a subsequent investigation were suspended. Cohen said he got 14 of those suspensions lifted.
One of Cohen's student clients, Layla Saliba, a Palestinian American and organizer with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, posted a photo of Haniyeh and Cohen.
"My attorney @StanleyCohenLaw with Ismail Haniyeh, the chairman of Hamas's Political Bureau," she wrote. "Haniyeh grew up in a refugee camp and was incredibly dedicated to the Palestinian people. He was assassinated by an occupation with unrelenting cruelty."
My attorney @StanleyCohenLaw with Ismail Haniyeh, the chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau. Haniyeh grew up in a refugee camp and was incredibly dedicated to the Palestinian people. He was assassinated by an occupation with unrelenting cruelty. pic.twitter.com/qbrxC6R0ki
— Layla (@itslaylas) July 31, 2024
In a follow-up post, Saliba shared a link to an article, "How Stanley Cohen Went From Orthodox to Defending Bin Laden's Son-In-Law," Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. During Ghaith's prosecution, then-assistant attorney general John Carlin described him as the "face and voice of al Qaeda in the days and weeks after the 9/11 attacks."
Ghaith was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to kill Americans, providing material support to terrorists, and conspiring to do so. Cohen, who had sought a sentence of 15 years for Ghaith, said his client had played no role in specific acts of terrorism and was facing "the harshest of penalties for talk—and only talk."
Cohen also represented a Hamas cofounder, Mousa Abu Marzook, who served as the deputy chairman of Hamas's Political Bureau and, according to the New York Times, was considered a top contender to replace Haniyeh. Cohen rushed to Marzook's defense in 1995 as Marzook was facing extradition to Israel on suspicion of terror, but the terrorist was ultimately released. More recently, in a February interview, Marzook defended the Oct. 7 massacre and blasted Israel's response as "barbaric."
Cohen did not respond to a request for comment. Columbia declined to comment.
Cohen in an interview with the Village Sun called Columbia fascist and said he was once suspended from the school himself for antiwar protesting. After Haniyeh's assassination, meanwhile, Columbia University's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter shared a graphic condemning Israel for the Hamas leader's death, saying the Jewish state "wants all-out regional war."
Cohen sent a flurry of X posts mourning Haniyeh. He relayed a message, which he received from "one of the original founders and leaders of Hamas," that said, "It's a great loss but it's our duty to defend our people."
Haniyeh played a major role in developing Hamas's fighting ability and, according to Israel, was one of the leaders who pulled "the strings of the Hamas terror organization," Reuters reported. He called Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel "an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity" and pledged to "continue the resistance against this enemy until we liberate our land, all our land."
Haniyeh was killed in a Tehran house by a remotely detonated explosive, the Times reported. Iranian officials blamed Israel for the hit.
While thanking X followers who offered condolences, Cohen said Haniyeh was targeted because he was a "great man" with a "great soul." A photo of Hamas cofounder Ahmed Yassin, Cohen, and Haniyeh serves as the lawyer's profile picture on X.
Cohen said he first met Haniyeh 25 years ago, when the Hamas member was an assistant to Yassin. He added that he was close to another Hamas cofounder, Abu Shanab, during the same period.
"All these years later, all 3 have been assassinated," Cohen wrote. "The resistance goes on till freedom."
Cohen has asserted that "Palestinians have a legal right to armed struggle," Al Jazeera reported, and has called Israeli "settlers" and soldiers "legitimate targets under international law," the New York Post reported. He has also defended Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, claimed he was in contact with a "leader of the resistance," and said Israel's counterattack killed his friend, a retired general who served with former Palestinian National Authority president Yasser Arafat.