Anne of the West

A member of an offshoot of the Jewish Defense League — designated by the FBI as a "known violent extremist organization" — was allegedly building explosive devices to target the home of Nerdeen Kiswani in a chilling act of political violence. The defendant reportedly planned to flee to Israel following the attack. This comes amid an alarming rise in threats and violence across the country targeting Palestinian human rights advocates. I am thankful that the NYPD and FBI thwarted this plot, which could have endangered Nerdeen’s life and those of other New Yorkers. Let me be clear: We will not tolerate violent extremism in our city. No one should face violence for their political beliefs or their advocacy. I am relieved that Nerdeen is safe. Our city must meet hate with solidarity, and meet fear with an unshakable commitment to justice and to one another.

It's quite amazing how Mamdani is completely incapable of calling out Islamic terrorism when we had an actual attempted attack a few weeks ago and instead tried to blame it on white people, and has stayed silent on the many times that Nerdeen Kiswani and her group of domestic terrorists led violent "protests" outside places of worship, on college campuses, outside a cancer hospital, in NYC streets... all while harassing and physically attacking people and damaging property (a number of them which he himself participated in) - all while support designated terrorist groups, yet now he rushes to highlight and make a big deal about a Jewish person who had planned on going after Kiswani. It says a lot about his double standards and where his priorities lie.

Today, the FBI and NYPD disrupted a plot by a member of a pro-Israel terrorist organization to assassinate Nerdeen Kiswani. This is a reprehensible act of political violence. There is no place for it in our city nor our country. I am thankful Ms. Kiswani is safe and the assailant is under arrest.

As a Palestinian woman, I have faced years of harassment, threats, doxxing, and intimidation by Zionist men. They target us in particular but they will not stop there. They will come for anyone who speaks out. This violent, extremist, colonial ideology targets Palestinians, especially women and children, to seize our homes, lives, and futures. One of the first major acts of modern terrorism in Palestine was the bombing of the King David Hotel by the Zionist paramilitary group Irgun in 1946, which killed 91 people. Since then, Zionist groups have carried out acts of terror across the region and the world. They have a history of targeting Palestinians abroad, including the assassination of activist Alex Odeh in the U.S., and continue to expand their influence and attacks wherever they operate. They must be stopped. Elected officials or state representatives who work with or support these groups must be investigated. Their rhetoric enables Zionist terrorism. Gaza exposed it to the world and we must act accordingly.