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Pro-Hamas Activists, Groups Turn Against Progressive Lawmakers, Allies as Anti-Israel Movement Shows Cracks
Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
A slew of anti-Israel groups and activists have turned on left-wing Democratic lawmakers and allies, dismissing them as “enemies” and calling into question their support and loyalty to the Palestinian cause.
In recent weeks, anti-Zionist organizations and public figures have taken to social media to lash out at high-profile left-wing politicians and activists for criticizing their methods of opposing the Jewish state. Staunchly anti-Israel groups such as Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have expressed outright indignation at allied lawmakers and activists for suggesting their extreme, sometimes violent tactics are counterproductive and risk cannibalizing the movement against the Jewish state.
SJP, which promotes anti-Israel propaganda on college campuses, lambasted US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for criticizing a mob of pro-Hamas protesters who demonstrated outside an exhibition in New York City that commemorates the victims of the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. The group asserted that any public disapproval of pro-Palestinian activists is tantamount to enabling “genocide” in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the Hamas terrorist group.
“We are not loyal to our oppressors; elected officials who choose to enable genocide, endorse the architects of said genocide, or otherwise stand in the way of Palestinian liberation will face the political consequences of those choices,” SJP wrote.
“Figures like AOC and Jamaal Bowman have utility insofar as they leverage their positions within the belly of the beast to shield the masses and our righteous struggles for liberation, directly challenge white supremacist power structures, and stand firmly against Zionism and all manifestations of US imperialism,” SJP continued. “Without these tangible actions, we regard these elected officials as our enemies.”
Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman have been among the US Congress’s most vocal critics of Israel, falsely accusing the Jewish state of “genocide” and “white supremacy,” relentlessly castigating its American supporters, and claiming that the charge of antisemitism has been weaponized for political purposes.
However, their anti-Israel comments and policy proposals haven’t seemingly gone far enough for SJP, which has been behind many of the pro-Hamas demonstrations that devastated universities this past academic year.
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an organization that promotes the eradication of Israel and Zionism as its central goal, similarly condemned Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez for not taking maximalist stances against the Jewish state. The group criticized the two lawmakers for “sanctioning Palestinian resistance” by voting in favor of a resolution which strengthens the authority of the US president to levy sanctions against entities that use human shields in conflict. Hamas has been widely criticized for its military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks against Israel.
WOL also blasted the two lawmakers for perpetuating “debunked Zionist propaganda about sexual violence” by voting in favor of another resolution that condemned Hamas’ systematic use of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Israeli women during its Oct. 7 onslaught.
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of WOL and a prolific organizer of anti-Israel demonstrations, reprimanded Ocasio-Cortez for calling out her group’s protest of the exhibit honoring victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre.
“You are a genocide apologist,” Kiswani wrote, dismissing the display as a “zionist [sic] exhibit used to manufacture consent for genocide.”
“You are worse than any openly fascist politician. At least we know they are our enemies. Liberals like you will smile in our face as you lie to and backstab our communities,” Kiswani continued.
The WOL leader then fired shots at US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, for issuing a statement criticizing protests of Bowman’s reelection campaign rally. The congresswoman wrote that members of WOL harbor “unrealistic expectations of political perfection.”
“You think we care about Palestinians who repeat Zionist agenda and lies? Unfortunately Rashida Tlaib repeated the lies about Palestinians committing sexual violence on Oct. 7, the same lies used to manufacture consent for genocide. She needs to be called out too,” Kiswani wrote.
Kiswani also took aim at Rafael Shimunov, a Jewish activist and leader of the anti-Israel organization IfNotNow, for criticizing WOL’s decision to protest a rally supporting Bowman’s failed reelection campaign.
“Weren’t you already called out for being a liberal Zionist? Do you need to be dog walked again?” Kiswani wrote.
“Do you really think Palestinians have so little agency that we wouldn’t on our own volition protest politicians backing genocide Joe who we’ve chanted against for months?” Kiswani continued, using a nickname that pro-Hamas activists have given to US President Joe Biden due to his overall support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Beyond Congress, even avowed anti-Israel activists who have been at the front lines of the movement against the Jewish state have come under fire.
Ali Abunimah, director of the anti-Israel outlet Electronic Intifada, attacked Women’s March leader and progressive activist Linda Sarsour for criticizing the divisive tactics of pro-Palestinian organizations.
“Calling us ‘purists’ or accusing us of ‘demanding perfection’ from ‘progressives’ who pander to ‘Israel’ devalues lives of Palestinian genocide victims. These ‘progressives’ reap huge rewards from being ‘pro-Palestine’ while doing NOTHING to actually help Palestinians. Enough!” Abunimah wrote.
Sarsour has been among the most prominent anti-Israel voices in the US for several years.
Meanwhile, Abunimah has repeatedly called for the destruction and replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state. He regularly accuses Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Abunimah has also compared Israel to Nazi Germany, posting on X/Twitter that “supporting Zionism is not atonement for the Holocaust, but its continuation in spirit.”
Abunimah has dismissed Zionism as “one of the worst forms of antisemitism in existence today,” disregarding the fact that the vast majority of Jews self-identify as Zionist and believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state in the ancient homeland of the Jewish people.
The post Pro-Hamas Activists, Groups Turn Against Progressive Lawmakers, Allies as Anti-Israel Movement Shows Cracks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Experts, Lawmakers Suggest Same Hateful Ideology That Motivated New Orleans Attack Also Behind Pro-Hamas NYC March
Palestinian Youth Movement protesters speaking in Times Square, New York City, NY, USA on Jan. 1, 2025. Photo: Ethan Johnson/SIPA USA via Reuters Connect
Some experts and lawmakers are drawing a link between the Islamist ideology that seemingly motivated the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans and the pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City that took place hours later.
On Wednesday, hours after a US Army veteran who pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans and killed at least 14 people, protesters marched through New York City, chanting slogans condemning both America and Israel.
Hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators descended upon the streets of Manhattan, sporting signs calling to “End Zionism,” “End all US aid to Israel,” and for “No War With Iran.” Many of these activists also carried Palestinian flags and bellowed slogans such as “intifada revolution!” — a slogan that many consider to be a call for violence against Israelis, Jews, and Westerners more broadly.
“We’re sending you back to Europe, you white b–ches,” a protester yelled at participants of a pro-Israel counter-demonstration. “Go back to Europe! Go back to Europe!”
The demonstration was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a group that plans anti-Israel demonstrations across the United States. PYM has repeatedly praised Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
US lawmakers were quick to slam the anti-Israel demonstrations, accusing them of fomenting unwarranted hatred toward the United States and the Jewish state.
“These protesters in New York City are marching not to condemn the ISIS terrorist attack against their own country but to falsely accuse their own country, as well as Israel, of terrorism,” wrote Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), one of the most strident allies of Israel in the US Congress.
“The hatred for America and Israel far exceeds the hatred for actual terror, apartheid, and genocide in the world,” Torres continued. “For an ideologue, ideology has more reality than reality itself.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), another stalwart ally of Israel, also linked the New Orleans terror attack to the New York City demonstrations, saying that “hours after a jihadist sympathizer killed 10 Americans, pro-Hamas agitators are marching through New York City calling for a global intifada.”
“The governor and the mayor must put an end to this nonsense — now,” Lawler added. “Silence is not an option.”
Israeli diplomat Yaki Lopez similarly linked the two incidents, posting on social media that “pro-Hamas demonstrators chanted ‘intifada revolution’ in New York City while jihadist terrorists carried out a deadly attack in New Orleans, killing over a dozen Americans.”
“There’s little distinction between the actions of [the suspect in] New Orleans, who used a truck as a weapon and terrorist attacks in the West Bank where cars are used to run over Israelis,” added Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of its Long War Journal. “It’s terrorism, yet there are people in this country who support ‘resistance’ and ‘intifada.’”
US federal agencies have established a link between domestic anti-Israel protests and foreign actors. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in July that the Iranian regime has organized “influence efforts” to undermine trust in American institutions, adding that “actors tied to Iran’s government” have encouraged and provided financial support to rampant anti-Israel demonstrations. Haines also said that Iran has weaponized social media against the Jewish state and America, spreading misleading propaganda regarding the ongoing war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, experts have warned of a rising global terror threat in the year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities. Last May, experts explained to The Algemeiner that “lone wolf” terrorists inspired by ISIS and al Qaeda could carry out attacks on US soil, incensed by the ongoing war in Gaza and inspired by terrorist violence abroad.
“As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a time when I’ve seen so many different threats, all elevated, all at the same time,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in April.
The post Experts, Lawmakers Suggest Same Hateful Ideology That Motivated New Orleans Attack Also Behind Pro-Hamas NYC March first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Florida Man Arrested for Alleged Plot to Attack AIPAC Office
The 2018 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC. Photo: Guatemala Presidency / Handout via Reuters.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stopped an apparent plot to attack an office of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Plantation, FL, according to court documents filed earlier this week.
Law enforcement apprehended Forrest Kendall Pemberton, a 26-year-old resident of Gainesville, FL, on Dec. 25, the first night of Hanukkah, after he traveled to Plantation in search of the local AIPAC office, local and national media outlets reported.
Prosecutors alleged in their filings that Pemberton was in a rideshare vehicle carrying multiple firearms, including an AR-15 rifle, and ammunition when law enforcement officers stopped and arrested him.
AIPAIC, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US, seeks to foster bipartisan support for a stronger US-Israel relationship.
The court documents reportedly did not specifically name AIPAC as the target. However, an FBI affidavit described an organization with the same mission statement as AIPAC and referenced identical language from the group’s website. The suspect’s search engine history also included queries for AIPAC and its former Plantation office, believing it was the current local office.
According to law enforcement, Pemberton initially scoped out the premises of the Florida site for entry and exit points before later attempting to return with weapons.
Suspicions first arose surrounding Pemberton’s whereabouts after his father reported him missing to the police on Dec. 23. The father said he found a “concerning” note in his son’s backpack that “espoused anti-authority sentiments.” His father added that Pemberton often “espoused antisemitic views.”
An AIPAC spokesperson issued an identical statement to multiple outlets thanking the FBI for its work and saying the pro-Israel organization will not be intimidated.
“We take these threats very seriously and we are working closely with law enforcement concerning this matter,” the spokesperson said. “We will not be deterred by extremists in pursuing our mission to strengthen the relationship with America’s valued ally, Israel. We are deeply appreciative of the FBI’s work to stop this individual.”
Pemberton faces a federal stalking charge and is accused of traveling to AIPAC with the intent of “killing, injuring, harassing, and intimidating” people with the organization.
The post Florida Man Arrested for Alleged Plot to Attack AIPAC Office first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Antisemitic Hate Crimes in Massachusetts Reach Eight-Year High
The Boston skyline stands behind the Tobin Bridge and the city of Chelsea as seen from Everett, Massachusetts, US. Photo: Brian Snyder via Reuters Connect.
The US state of Massachusetts saw more antisemitic hate crimes in 2023 than at any time since government officials began tracking such data eight years ago, according to a report issued by its Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS).
A striking 119 antisemitic hate crimes were reported to law enforcement agencies, EOPSS said, a total which, in addition to eclipsing 2015’s total of 56 incidents, amounts to a 70 percent increase over the previous year. Antisemitic hate crimes also constituted 18.8 percent of all hate crimes reported in 2023, a figure which trails only behind the percentage of hate crimes which targeted African Americans.
The report added that 68.9 percent of the antisemitic incidents involved property destruction or vandalism, a total of 82, while another 19 percent involved intimidation. Some physical assaults, six, were recorded or reported to the police.
EOPSS’s numbers fall somewhat below other figures reported by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in spring 2024, when the civil rights group said 440 antisemitic incidents occurred in the state in 2023, a 189 percent increase over the previous year. However, the discrepancy may be due to differences in methodology, as ADL reports include all antisemitic incidents, while EOPSS’s tally considers those which fit the legal definition of a crime and were brought to the attention of law enforcement.
The ADL has said, however, that their numbers and EOPSS’s are mutually inclusive.
“This report mirrors what sadly we’ve been tracking and responding to on a daily basis. There has been a marked increase in antisemitic hate incidents in the Bay State and in fact across the country,” Peggy Shukur, vice president of the ADL’s East Division, told The Algemeiner on Thursday. “The local increase reflects national trends. Our data showed that over 10,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the US since Oct. 7, 2023, an over 200 percent increase compared to incidents reported to us during the same period a year before.”
She added, “Behind every one of these numbers are people who have experienced the harm, fear, intimidation, and pain that reverberates from each of these incidents. The fact that numbers increase by 70 percent is a grim reminder that antisemitism continues to infect our communities in real and pervasive ways.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, antisemitism in Massachusetts has been an acute problem on college campuses, one to which school officials have allegedly hesitated to respond.
“I’ve become traumatized,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student Talia Khan told members of the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce in March. “MIT has become overrun by terrorist supporters that directly threaten the lives of Jews on our campus. Members of the anti-Israel club on our campus have stated that violence against Jews who support Israel, including women and children, is acceptable. When this was reported to president [Sally] Kornbluth and senior MIT administration, the issue was never dealt with. Then, administrators pleaded ignorance when we reminded them that no action had been taken, saying that they either forgot about it or missed the email.”
Allegations of neglect have prompted civil lawsuits, including one against Harvard University which was recently cleared to proceed to discovery. Filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (Brandeis Center), the suit centers on several incidents involving Harvard Kennedy School professor Marshall Ganz during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Ganz allegedly refused to accept a group project submitted by Israeli students for his course, titled “Organizing: People, Power, Change,” because they described Israel as a “liberal Jewish democracy.” He castigated the students over their premise, the Brandeis Center says, accusing them of “white supremacy” and denying them the chance to defend themselves. Later, Ganz allegedly forced the Israeli students to attend “a class exercise on Palestinian solidarity” and the taking of a class photograph in which their classmates and teaching fellows “wore ‘keffiyehs’ as a symbol of Palestinian support.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Antisemitic Hate Crimes in Massachusetts Reach Eight-Year High first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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