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Elected officials and Jewish leaders decry pro-Palestinian group’s map of Jewish organizations with ‘blood on their hands’
(New York Jewish Week) — A pro-Palestinian group that calls for “intifada” and Israel’s destruction temporarily posted maps online detailing the locations of Jewish organizations in New York City and saying they had “blood on their hands.”
The posts have drawn the NYPD’s attention and sparked condemnation from elected officials and Jewish leaders. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine called the posts “dangerous and reprehensible.”
The group, Within Our Lifetime, posted the maps on Instagram. It urged its 121,000 followers, in all caps, to “KNOW YOUR ENEMY.” The group, and others who shared the posts, had deleted them from the platform by Thursday.
The posts were uploaded during an ongoing heated debate on social media over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. They also come during a spike in antisemitism across the United States in the nearly six weeks since Hamas launched the war on Oct. 7 with its invasion of Israel.
The images recall the “Mapping Project,” an anonymous effort last year that listed the names and locations of Jewish institutions in Boston as supporters of “the colonization of Palestine.” That project was condemned and disavowed by a wide range of organizations, including pro-Palestinian groups. And in 2021, a local leader of the Council on American-Islamic Relations warned an audience to beware of “polite Zionists,” including Jewish federations, synagogues and Hillels.
The posts displayed black-and-white maps with pins denoting the locations of a number of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations. Some are focused on funding settlement expansion or the growth of Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, such as the Central Fund of Israel, Friends of Beit El, Friends of Ateret Cohanim and Friends of Ir David.
Others are broadly focused on supporting Israel and its military, including Israel’s consulate in New York, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and the Jewish National Fund. Still others are more general Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and Jewish Communal Fund, which is a donor-advised fund.
“Some of the most egregious organizations that we should be protesting every day are the fake zionist charities funding settlers in Palestine,” read one of the posts. “Make these locations a stop in your protests. picket and leaflet outside of them, make supporters of genocide uncomfortable!”
The groups “receive subsidies from the US government to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing,” one of the posts said. “These zionist charities must be exposed and confronted.”
Within Our Lifetime’s leader, Nerdeen Kiswani, shared the map and said, “Genocide supporters have been working amongst us.”
Another post from the group, headlined with one of its common chants, “Globalize the Intifada,” had a map of Israeli and U.S. companies and transit hubs. The locations listed included The New York Times, Penn Station, Grand Central Station, the BlackRock investment firm, and the Israeli tech company Check Point.
“Each of the locations on this map reflects the location of an office of an enemy of both the Palestinian people and colonized people all over the world. Today and beyond, these locations will be sites for popular mobilization in defense of our people,” the group wrote.
“May this map serve as a call for every struggle to act in their own interest,” the post said, closing with “from the river to the sea,” a slogan that critics have said calls for the destruction of Israel. Within Our Lifetime did not respond to a request for comment.
Within Our Lifetime supported the Oct. 7 Hamas attack as “whatever means necessary it takes” to achieve Palestinian liberation, and has since held near-daily street protests denouncing Israel. It has instructed its followers to chant, “Israel has got to go,” “Smash the settler Zionist state” and “We don’t want two states,” a reference to the possibility of Israel existing alongside a Palestinian state.
The group’s protests include banners that say “By any means necessary” and chants of “Globalize the intifada.” Palestinian terror attacks during the Second Intifada, two decades ago, killed an estimated 1,000 Israelis. Activists who have protested with the group have been convicted of hate crimes against Jews, and the Anti-Defamation League says the group has previously expressed support for U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.
“We strongly condemn maps of NYC that are circulating on social media with calls to ‘globalize the intifada’ in ‘direct actions’ and ‘operations’ zones,” ADL’s New York office posted online.
The NYPD said it was aware of the posts, saying in a statement, “We have been policing the protests effectively and will continue to do the same.”
Elected officials across the city decried the group’s posts.
“This posting is a dangerous and abhorrent incitement to violence and poses a direct threat to New York’s Jewish communities,” the New York City Council’s Jewish Caucus said in a statement. “It must be taken seriously and we appreciate that law enforcement is already investigating this matter.”
Democratic Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres, a pro-Israel stalwart, said, “Coded calls for violence against Jews are proliferating on social media.”
Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said, “This is not promoting peace. This is an incitement to violence against Jews and it must be taken seriously.”
One institution on one of the maps is the central office of the City University of New York, Kiswani’s alma mater, which has been grappling with allegations of antisemitism on its campuses in recent years. Kiswani and another prominent activist from Within Our Lifetime, Fatima Mohammed, gave the past two commencement speeches at CUNY Law, both of which were decried by Jewish groups and elected officials as antisemitic.
Within Our Lifetime collaborates with several CUNY student organizations that shared the maps targeting Jewish groups. All appeared to have removed the posts by Thursday evening.
Kiswani and Mohammed led a protest last year during which an activist associated with the group, Saadah Masoud, beat a Jewish man, Matt Greenman. Earlier this year, Masoud was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on hate crimes charges for the assault on Greenman and attacking Jews in two other incidents. At least two other activists who have protested with the group have been arrested or imprisoned for attacking Jews.
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The post Elected officials and Jewish leaders decry pro-Palestinian group’s map of Jewish organizations with ‘blood on their hands’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tlaib Sports Palestinian Keffiyeh at Carter Funeral, Thanks Late President for ‘Speaking Out Against Apartheid’
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses attendees as she takes part in a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most strident opponents of Israel in Congress, wore a Palestinian keffiyeh to the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, commemorating the late American leader’s advocacy against so-called “apartheid” in the Jewish state.
“Rest in peace, President Jimmy Carter. It was an honor to be there with your family. I wore my Palestinian keffiyeh to show my gratitude for your courageous stance in speaking out against apartheid and standing up for peace,” Tlaib posted on X/Twitter, along with a picture of her keffyeh.
Rest in peace, President Jimmy Carter. It was an honor to be there with your family. I wore my Palestinian keffiyeh to show my gratitude for your courageous stance in speaking out against apartheid and standing up for peace. pic.twitter.com/Vf0XLN2BtJ
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 9, 2025
The keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headscarf, has become known as a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and opposition to Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
High-profile politicians, including all five living US presidents, attended Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC on Thursday. The former president died on Dec. 29, 2024 at 100 years old due to heart failure.
Over the past couple of decades, Carter’s public commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has ruffled feathers among supporters of the Jewish state. In 2006, Carter raised eyebrows after publishing a book titled, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which condemned Israel for constructing settlements in the West Bank and accused the Jewish state of constructing a racially-discriminatory political regime.
In 2009, Carter traveled to the Middle East and held meetings with leaders of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Critics noted that he did not criticize Hamas leadership during his meeting and praised the terrorists as being “frank and honest.”
In 2015, Carter further incensed proponents of the Jewish state when he seemingly defended senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and argued that the terrorist group was not an obstacle to peace in the region.
“I don’t believe that [Mashal’s] a terrorist. He’s strongly in favor of the peace process,” Carter said at the time.
“I don’t see that deep commitment on the part of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to make concessions which [former Prime Minister] Menachem Begin did to find peace with his potential enemies,” Carter continued.
Since entering Congress, Tlaib has positioned herself as one of the most vocal anti-Israel critics in US politics. Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in the House of Representatives, has repeatedly used her platform to lodge condemnations against Israel.
The congresswoman has accused Israel of committing “apartheid” against Palestinians. In the year following Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Tlaib has smeared the Jewish state’s defensive military operations as a “genocide,” calling on US President Joe Biden to force a “ceasefire” between Israel and the terrorist group and implement an “arms embargo” against the Jewish state.
On Thursday, Tlaib slammed the House for passing a bill which would sanction members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its issuing of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant
“What’s their top priority the first week of the new Congress? Lowering costs? Addressing the housing crisis? No, it’s sanctioning the International Criminal Court to protect genocidal maniac Netanyahu so he can continue the genocide in Gaza,” Tlaib wrote on social media.
The post Tlaib Sports Palestinian Keffiyeh at Carter Funeral, Thanks Late President for ‘Speaking Out Against Apartheid’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sydney Synagogue Daubed in Antisemitic Graffiti in Latest Attack on Australian Jews
Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah, Australia, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti on Jan. 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
A synagogue in Sydney was daubed in antisemitic graffiti on Friday, police said, the latest in a spate of incidents targeting Jews in Australia.
Police will deploy a special task force to investigate the attack on the Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah that happened in the early hours of Friday morning, New South Wales state Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna told a news conference.
“The people who do the sort of thing should realize we will be out in force to look for them; we will catch them and prosecute them,” he said.
Television footage showed multiple swastikas painted on the building, along with a message reading “Hitler on top.”
“[There is] no place in Australia, our tolerant multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference.
The incident is the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents in Australia in the last year, including multiple incidents of graffiti on buildings and cars in Sydney, as well as arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne that police have ruled as terrorism.
Australia has seen an increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 and Israel launched its war against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza. Some Jewish organizations have said the government has not taken sufficient action in response.
The country launched a task force last month following the Melbourne synagogue blaze, focusing on threats, violence, and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community.
Australia’s ice hockey federation said on Tuesday it had cancelled a planned international qualifying tournament due to safety concerns, with local media reporting the decision was linked to the participation of the Israeli national team.
The post Sydney Synagogue Daubed in Antisemitic Graffiti in Latest Attack on Australian Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Says Houthis Paying ‘Heavy Price’ After Israel Strikes Yemen
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes near Sanaa airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Israeli warplanes bombed a power station and two ports in Houthi-controlled Yemen on Friday in retaliation for the Iran-backed terrorist group’s drone and missile strikes against Israel, and pro-Houthi media said at least one person had been killed and nine wounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the Houthi rebels in Yemen were “paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for their aggression against us.”
“Today, we attacked terrorist targets of the Houthi terrorist regime along the western coastal strip and deep in Yemen. The Houthis are a proxy of Iran, and they serve the terrorist objectives of the Iranian axis in the Middle East,” Netanyahu added. “They constitute a danger to Israel and the entire region, including global freedom of navigation.”
The strikes hit the Red Sea port of Ras Issa and the major port of Hodeidah and the Hezyaz central power station in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, and Harf Sufyan District in Amran province also came under air attack, said Al Masirah TV, the main news outlet run by the Houthis.
An employee at the Ras Issa port was killed and six others were injured, while three people, including a worker, were wounded in the strikes on Hezyaz, the outlet said.
The Israeli military said more than 20 aircraft took part in the attack, dropping around 50 bombs and missiles in an operation which required airborne refueling during the 2,000-km (1,240-mile) flight.
Earlier, British security firm Ambrey said airstrikes on the Ras Issa port targeted oil storage facilities in the vicinity of shipping berths, though no merchant vessels were reported to have been damaged.
The supply of petroleum derivatives is stable, the Houthi government spokesperson Hashem Sharaf Eddine said after the attack.
An Israeli military statement confirmed the targets, saying the power station served as a “central source of energy for the Houthi terrorist regime in its military activities.” It added that the targets struck were examples of the “Houthis’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure.”
“The Houthi terrorist regime has repeatedly attacked the State of Israel, its citizens and civilian infrastructure in Israel,” including using drones and surface-to-surface missiles, the IDF said. “The State of Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself.”
The Israeli military added that Houthi “attacks on international shipping vessels and routes continue to destabilize the region and the wider world.”
“While the Houthi terrorist regime operates as an independent terrorist organization, it relies on Iranian cooperation and funding to attack the State of Israel and its citizens,” it continued. “The IDF will continue to operate at any distance against any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Within the past 48 hours, the Houthis have fired three drones at Israel‘s commercial hub Tel Aviv and more drones and missiles at the US aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.
The Houthis have targeted Israel, hundreds of kilometers to the north as well as international shipping in waters near Yemen since November 2023 in support of Palestinian terrorists at war with Israel in Gaza.
Israel has responded with airstrikes in Houthi-held areas of Yemen, as have British and US forces in the region.
Netanyahu said last month Israel was only at the beginning of its campaign against the Houthis.
The post Netanyahu Says Houthis Paying ‘Heavy Price’ After Israel Strikes Yemen first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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