Anti-Israel protests organized by Muslims in New York City aren’t only meant to vilify Israel’s retaliatory war against terror group Hamas

The violent and disruptive protests in support of terror group HAMAS in New York City are not spontaneous outbursts of anti-Israel activists reacting to the war in Gaza.
They are part of a planned strategy of Nerdeen Kiswani, founder and leader of Within Our Lifetime (WOL), and Amin Husain, suspended New York University (NYU) professor and founding member of Decolonize This Place (DTP), a violent anarchist group to paralyze and ultimately shut down NYC.

Special thanks to the great Canary Mission

Within Our Lifetime – the main driver of the protests – went into high gear on October 8, just one day after Hamas massacred 1,200 Jews in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. Their strategy was conceived long before there was any response from Israel.

It should also be noted that Within Our Lifetime’s strategy was being enacted on October 7, while Jewish rape, shooting and burning victims of Hamas still lay dying in Israel’s streets.

1. Suspended antisemitic NYU Professor Amin Husain is a longtime collaborator with Nerdeen Kiswani and her violent pro-terror activist group, Within Our Lifetime.

2. Within Our Lifetime and Decolonize This Place have enacted a strategy of mobilizing their intersectional allies against ‘Zionists’ and New York authorities to paralyze the city.

3. Husain and Kiswani have positioned the Palestinian cause as the key to the liberation of other indigenous and intersectional “struggles.”

4. Violence and opposition to authority are essential parts of their strategy. They seek out and encourage it.

5. Together with Kiswani, Husain has built a violent and disruptive strategy designed to make the city “ungovernable.”

As events began to unfold on October 7, Kiswani made a strategic calculation that, despite the horrific atrocities coming to light, she would be able to convince her activists and allies to continue to support Palestinian resistance.  

To the astonishment of Jews, liberals and others concerned with basic human rights, Kiswani’s assessment proved correct.

As the world reeled in horror from the ever-increasing revelations of Hamas’ massacre of Israeli men, women and children, Kiswani was constructing a narrative that painted Hamas (and by extension, all Palestinians) as the victims and the Jews – those both dead and alive – as the oppressors.

One might consider it risky to assume that people would embrace this narrative, but it evidently succeeded. A significant reason is that Kiswani and Husain have dedicated at least a decade to priming their supporters for this pivotal moment in history.

Within Our Lifetime and Decolonize This Place have devised and executed a two-pronged plan:

1) To strategically frame the Palestinian conflict as a centerpiece of intersectional politics.

2) To implement tactics to disrupt New York City.

Together with Kiswani, Husain has built a violent and disruptive strategy designed to make the city “ungovernable.” 

Husain’s association with WOL dates back to at least 2016 when WOL was still operating as NYC Students for Justice in Palestine. (In 2018, Kiswani, the head of NYC SJP at the time, rebranded the group as WOL)

WOL’s targets have included: 

• The NYC Marathon 

• The Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center 

• The New York Library 

• The Museum of Modern Art 

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

• Grand Central Station

• Penn Station

• The Manhattan Bridge

• JFK Airport

Kiswani and Husain realized many years ago that their movement would need allies to succeed. One simple reason was that the anti-Israel crowd in New York (and beyond) would never be big enough to effect any change.

It was easy for Kiswani and Husain to find those allies, as a “pre-made” group already existed. The “coalition of the oppressed,” which coalesced in America in 2016, consisted of minorities, indigenous peoples, feminists, queers and other groups that the Far Left deemed “victims” in America – whether due to colonialism, the “patriarchy,” gender bias, white supremacy or the catch-all culprit – capitalism.

Post September 11, Muslim Brotherhood front groups, like CAIR, worked hard to include Muslims in this coalition and they succeeded.

The only task left for Kiswani and Husain was convincing this group that “Palestine” topped all other causes and was key to “liberation” for each group.

The label “settler-colonialism” turned out to be a perfect way to delegitimize Israel, especially effective with a movement that eschewed historical facts.

While the rest of the intersectional crowd was stuck in academia explaining their grievances, Kiswani and Husain took the fight to the next level. The launch of the “Globalize the Intifada” movement offered the method of the Palestinians – “intifada,” or violent uprising – as a solution based on action. They were thus able to brand the Palestinians as both heroes and models.

Slogans such as “Resistance by any means necessary” and “Resistance is Justified When People are Occupied” resonated with their intersectional allies and gained popularity. These phrases effectively destigmatized and romanticized the brutal reality of the terrorism to which they allude.

In 2020, Amin Husain formulated a strategy titled: “Becoming Ungovernable.” 

It was aimed at instigating significant disruptions in New York City and uniting a diverse spectrum of movements under the banner: “OUR UPRISINGS ARE QUEER, TRANS, BLACK, BROWN, PALESTINIAN, IMMIGRANT, INDIGENOUS AND GLOBAL.”

Despite this wide range of causes, the materials disseminated by Husain predominantly focused on anti-Israel protests. One poster stated, “First they came for the Muslims, and we said ‘Not this time, motherf**ker”,” paired with imagery of a man in a keffiyeh, fist raised, symbolizing violent resistance.

Decolonize This Place detailed tactics for citywide disruption, listing items such as fire, bolt cutters, masks, glass bottles, nails, and emphasized the need for “warriors,” reflecting a militant approach to their activism.

June 15th 2021: “We also have a right to take over this city and shut this city down and force the city to hear us whenever Palestine is being attacked.” 

September 17, 2021:“We don’t need tens of thousands of people to shut down and disrupt this city and as long as Palestinians are facing genocide, as long as Palestinians are resisting colonization by any means necessary, we must do the same here in New York City. We have to up the stakes!”

It is no surprise that the “theoretical” ideas of Husain and Kiswani quickly morphed into reality for New Yorkers in general and Jews in particular. Disruptions in the city began in earnest during the weeks of the 2021 “Strike MoMA” demonstration, which targeted NYC’s iconic Museum of Modern Art during Israel’s “Operation Guardian of the Walls.”

It was at that time that Husain began his first “Mapping Project,” putting a bullseye on Jewish & pro-Israel charities, individuals and corporations, an initiative that Kiswani has both embraced and intensified significantly.

At the same time, it was unsurprising that there was an enormous uptick in antisemitic attacks on Jews in all boroughs of the city in 2021. A number of these assaults stand out, such as the brutal beat-down of Joseph Borgen (for the “crime” of wearing a yamulka) by a group of WOL activists and a similar attack on Matthew Greenman, an Israel supporter on crutches, by another WOL activist.

In hindsight, these incidents look like a dress rehearsal for what is happening today. What is clear is that Husain’s and Kiswani’s allies and activists were primed and ready to go on October 7 with a well-planned strategy to support the terror group they idolize, Hamas.