Nerdeen Kiswani

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Nerdeen Kiswani
نردين كسواني
DSC 1494 Nerdeen Kiswani.jpg
Born1993or1994(age 30–31)
Education City University of New York (BA, JD)
Occupationpro-Palestine activist
Organization Within Our Lifetime

Nerdeen Kiswani (Arabic : نردين كسواني [1] ) is a Palestinian-American activist and organizer. She is a co-founder and chair of Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestine activist group in New York City. During the Gaza War, Kiswani has led or spoken at numerous protests in New York City, including the Columbia University student encampment and protests against the detention of Mahmoud Khalil. Considered an influential activist, she has been credited with inspiring Gaza War protests in the US, including student protests. As a student at the City University of New York (CUNY), she was also involved in pro-Palestine activism as president of the school's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

Contents

Early life

Kiswani's family are refugees from the Palestinian town of Beit Iksa. [2] [3] [4] Kiswani has recalled listening to her grandmother's stories about leaving Palestine on foot during the Nakba. [5] Some of her family still lives in the West Bank. [6] Kiswani was born in Jordan around 1994 [4] [2] but grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, which has a large Arab and Palestinian community. [7] [8] [9] She studied at an Islamic school and then later at public school. According to Kiswani, she experienced Islamophobia in school, including being called a terrorist. [2]

Student Activism at CUNY

Undergraduate

Kiswani studied human rights and international relations at City University of New York (CUNY), attending classes at both the College of Staten Island and Hunter College. [2] In 2015, Kiswani co-founded NYC Students for Justice in Palestine (NYC SJP), which represented multiple CUNY schools. [1] [2] Due to her activism with NYC SJP, Israeli security forces prevented Kiswani from visiting her family in the West Bank in June 2015. [2] [10] [11] She has credited her desire to return to Palestine as a motivation for her activism. [12] Later that year, Kiswani and NYC SJP published an article which criticized pro-Palestinian activists for utilizing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as their primary tactic and called BDS "a tool in a toolbox, not the toolbox itself". The BDS movement and the national SJP criticized the article. [13] [14] [12]

At a protest against tuition increases in November 2015, Kiswani led students in chanting: "Zionists out of CUNY!" The slogan was cited in a letter to the CUNY administration from the Zionist Organization of America accusing SJP of antisemitism. According to Kiswani, the chant represented opposition to Zionism as an ideology and SJP did not condone banning any students from CUNY. [4] [15] In a subsequent investigation, CUNY found that SJP was not guilty of antisemitism, but Kiswani credited the investigation with undermining pro-Palestine activism at CUNY. [16] [17] [18] Kiswani completed her undergraduate degree at CUNY in June 2016. [16]

School of Law

As a student at CUNY School of Law, Kiswani served as president of the SJP chapter. [19] In conjunction with SJP and the Jewish Law Students Association, Kiswani successfully organized students to vote against a resolution supporting the IHRA definition of antisemitism. [20] Kiswani also played a key role in organizing a BDS resolution, [1] [12] [21] which was passed by the student government while she was its vice president. [22] The resolution, which was later endorsed by the faculty, [23] [12] [21] stated that CUNY was implicated in Israeli war crimes against Palestinians and urged CUNY to end all academic and financial ties with Israel. [22] [24] The chancellor of CUNY released a statement that opposed the resolution and cited anti-BDS rules in New York State. [22] In response to the BDS resolutions, city councilwoman Inna Vernikov removed funding from a free CUNY legal clinic and criticized Kiswani in her announcement of the cuts. [23] [21] [1] Additionally, Kiswani continued to organize protests and other activism through her group Within Our Lifetime. [2] [12] [25]

Elected as graduation speaker by the class of 2022, Kiswani's speech criticized the US and Israel as well as CUNY's response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [2] [21] [23] An organization called SAFE CUNY criticized CUNY Law for allowing Kiswani's commencement speech, alleging that CUNY was unsafe for Jewish people. [26] CUNY Law later removed the recording of Kiswani's speech from their website and stopped allowing the student body to elect commencement speakers. [27] [28] [13]

Organized e-mail campaign

Kiswani has stated that she was subject to harassment and death threats due to her pro-Palestine activism since she enrolled at CUNY School of Law. [1] [21] [20] She said that she received e-mails and phone calls from people who accused her of antisemitism. [29] The CUNY Law administration received a very high volume of e-mails calling for her to be disciplined. [29] [20] [30] The e-mails appeared to have largely been organized via Act.IL, a now defunct app that rewarded users for completing online tasks combatting what it considered antisemitism. [29] [12] [5] Act.IL was created by former Israeli intelligence officers and, according to Mondoweiss, was partially funded by the Israeli government. [29] [12] Several organizations including Palestine Legal and the school's Jewish Law Students Association expressed their support for Kiswani. [29] [21] [20] Ultimately, CUNY School of Law found that Kiswani had not violated any rules [30] and released a statement in support of her free speech. [5] [31] [12]

Within Our Lifetime

In 2018, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine was renamed Within Our Lifetime (WOL). [2] [12] WOL organizes pro-Palestine marches, [25] [32] including an annual Nakba Day march in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, [33] [34] and Gaza war protests that have shut down New York City traffic and transportation. [2] [35] [36] The group's protest slogans include: "Globalize the intifada". [37] [38] Kiswani typically speaks at WOL protests and has been arrested multiple times. [2] [27] She has led numerous protests including demonstrations against the detention of Mahmoud Khalil. [39] [40] She also organized a protest at the 2023 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting in response to the cancellation of Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, Palestine. [35] [41] Kiswani has been credited with influencing Gaza War protests in the US, including student protests. [2]

Kiswani was arrested while protesting outside Columbia University in February 2024. [27] The following month, Kiswani criticized the Israeli–Palestinian peace process and endorsed armed resistance against Israel at an event organized for Columbia University students. [42] After her wedding in April, Kiswani visited the Columbia University student encampment in her wedding thobe to offer her support. [43] [2] [44] She later spoke at the opening night for Hind’s House, an art exhibit commemorating the encampment. [45] [46] Columbia University has banned her from entering their campus. [45]

At a June 2024 protest outside a Nova music festival massacre exhibit, Kiswani gave a speech in which she referred to Nova as "the place where Zionists decided to rave next to a concentration camp" and called the exhibit "Zionist propaganda to try and justify the mass murder of the Palestinian people." Additionally, she condemned the Nuseirat rescue and massacre which had taken place a week prior. [2] [47] [48] The protest was criticized as antisemitic by government officials, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. [2] [49] In response to criticism of a WOL member for telling Zionists to leave a subway car, Kiswani tweeted that her group does not want Zionists "in Palestine, NYC, our schools, on the train, ANYWHERE." [2]

Kiswani is part of a CAIR lawsuit against the NYPD for their conduct during Gaza war protests in October 2023. [50] After the 2024 Nakba Day protests, Kiswani accused the New York City Police Department (NYPD) of police brutality, including assaults, property damage, and instigating conflict. [33] [51] [52] After a June 2024 protest at the Brooklyn Museum, Hyperallergic and Democracy Now! reported that the NYPD tackled Kiswani and removed her hijab. [53] [54] [55] Additionally, Kiswani criticized the NYPD's response to the 2025 pro-Israel mob attack in Brooklyn, stating that they contributed to it instead of stopping it. [56]

Political views

Kiswani and WOL are considered to be less moderate than other pro-Palestine activists. [2] [12] [13] Kiswani believes in the Palestinian right of armed resistance, [30] [42] stating that it has always played a role in revolutionary movements. [2] She uses the phrase "by any means necessary" as a reference to Malcolm X. [2]

According to Kiswani, the two-state solution is not viable, and Israel and Palestine already function as a single state under Israeli control. In her view, all of the land in Israel and Palestine should be incorporated into a Palestinian state, [2] [57] [58] and Palestinians should be able to exercise their right of return. [59] [42]

Kiswani has condemned Democratic politicians, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, due to their support for Israel. [60] [61] [62] She has also condemned Donald Trump's Gaza Strip proposal. [59] Kiswani believes that Ukraine is a "Western-backed project propped up for geopolitical interests & sustained by empire" and that Ukraine and Palestine "are not the same struggle." [63]

Reception

Kiswani is credited with playing a role in motivating Gaza War protests across the US, including at university campuses. [2] TheNew York Times and The Forward have referred to Kiswani as a "prominent activist", [29] [64] while NBC News has called her "emblematic" of the grassroots pro-Palestine movement in the US. [30] Mondoweiss has called Kiswani's organizing "impressive" and "relentless". [12] Sarah Schulman has stated that Kiswani's views are based on her experiences: "if this was me, and this was my family that was being brutalized and murdered, would I be doing this?" [2]

The Instagram accounts for WOL and Kiswani were shut down in February 2024 because, according to Meta, they had violated its rules against promoting "dangerous organizations or individuals". [2] [65] [27] WOL characterized the bans as censorship. [27] [65] [66]

Pro-Israel organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Canary Mission, and StopAntisemitism have accused Kiswani of antisemitism. Kiswani has stated she is anti-Zionist, not antisemitic. [2] [67] [6] According to Kiswani, accusations of antisemitism have been unfairly made against pro-Palestine activists. [22] [68] [69]

In January 2025, the far-right Zionist group Betar tweeted that they would award $1800 to anyone who handed a pager to Kiswani, a reference to the 2024 Lebanon electronic device attacks that has been interpreted as a threat. [70] [71] [72] [73]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 خاص, الجزيرة نت- (2022-06-28). "نردين كسواني.. طالبة فلسطينية حاربت الاحتلال الإسرائيلي بأميركا فاحتشد ضدها اللوبي الصهيوني". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Otterman, Sharon (5 Oct 2024). "Pro-Palestinian Group Is Relentless in Its Criticism of Israel, and It Isn't Backing Down". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2024-12-28.
  3. ↑ Offenhartz, Jake (2021-05-12). "Pro-Palestine Protest Draws Hundreds To Israeli Consulate In Manhattan". Gothamist. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
  4. 1 2 3 Kestenbaum, Sam (2016-03-30). "CUNY Under the Anti-Semitism Microscope". The Forward. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  5. 1 2 3 Iqbal, Zainab (2021-11-23). "Pro-Palestine activists brave smear campaigns at US universities". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  6. 1 2 Lovallo, Lauren (2023-10-19). "Islanders speak out in support of Palestine". Staten Island Advance . pp.  A1 A4 A15 . Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  7. ↑ Allen, Kelsey (2023-06-22). "Palestinians Are Carving Out a Home for Themselves in Bay Ridge". Thrillist. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
  8. ↑ Lucente, Adam (2018-05-17). "Bay Ridgites rally for Palestine after United States moves embassy to Jerusalem". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
  9. ↑ Ibrahim, Ismail (2023-11-02). "Prayer and Protest in Bay Ridge's Little Palestine". Curbed. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  10. ↑ Minta, Molly (2018-10-17). "Israel Detained This Palestinian-American Student—Now She's Challenging the State in Court". The Nation. ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  11. ↑ Kane, Alex (2016-10-07). "Is Israel ramping up crackdown on BDS activists?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Jamal, Hebh (2022-10-12). "Meet Nerdeen Kiswani, the most targeted Palestinian activist in America". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  13. 1 2 3 Tress, Luke (2024-06-12). "What is Within Our Lifetime, the group behind NY's most extreme anti-Israel protests?". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  14. ↑ Ben-Nun, Sarah (2020-12-23). "Antisemite of the year: A law student from New York". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  15. ↑ "NY Senate Passes $485 Million In CUNY Cuts, Citing Anti-Semitism". The Forward. 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  16. 1 2 "Pro-Palestinian Student Group Not Anti-Semitic, Investigation Finds". The Forward. 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  17. ↑ "Antisemitism policies at public city colleges in New York will be reviewed, the governor says". EL PAÍS English. 2023-11-01. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  18. ↑ Ziri, Danielle; Zaher, Yasmin (2019-12-15). "Pro-Palestinian Activists Fear Trump's anti-Semitism Order Will Clamp Down on Their Advocacy". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2024-01-09.
  19. ↑ Sandoval, Gabriel (2021-12-13). "CUNY Law Students' Call for Israeli Academic Boycott Ripples Through University Roiled by BDS Fight". THE CITY - NYC News. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Rosenfeld, Arno (2021-04-16). "'It was a disaster': Inside a fierce battle over antisemitism at CUNY". The Forward. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Starr, Michael (2022-05-29). "NYC Councilwoman pulls CUNY law school funds over anti-Israel stance". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2025-03-05.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Sandoval, Gabriel (2021-12-13). "CUNY Law Students' Call for Israeli Academic Boycott Ripples Through University Roiled by BDS Fight". THE CITY - NYC News. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  23. 1 2 3 Iqbal, Zainab (2022-06-06). "US: Students denounce decision to pull CUNY funding after BDS endorsement". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
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  25. 1 2 O'Neil, Meaghan McGoldrick (2020-07-02). "Photos: Protesters march from Bay Ridge to Barclays Center for a free Palestine". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  26. ↑ Henry, Jacob (2022-05-21). "Anti-Israel commencement speaker sparks fresh antisemitism debate at CUNY". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 "Censored! Meta Deletes Popular Pro-Palestine Accounts in New York City". Indypendent. 2024-02-19. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
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  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Leland, John (2021-01-22). "What Zoom Does to Campus Conflicts Over Israel and Free Speech". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
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  32. ↑ Bishara, Hakim (2021-09-20). ""This Is Class War": Protesters Storm MoMA with Palestinian Flags and Spoons". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  33. 1 2 Holtermann, Gabriele (2024-05-22). "Pro-Palestine organizers denounce police brutality, refute claims of outside agitators at Bay Ridge Nakba Day protest". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
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  35. 1 2 Heinrichs, Audra (2023-11-30). "'We stand against genocide': Gaza peace protesters target New York Christmas tree lighting". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-02-24.
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  37. ↑ GUERGUERIAN, AMBA (2022-05-17). "Palestinian Voices Ring Out in Bay Ridge: Freedom Within Our Lifetime, They Demand". The Indypendent. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
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  39. ↑ Moses, Dean (2025-03-20). "Protests Erupt Over Mahmoud Khalil's ICE Detention". AMNY. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  40. ↑ Hogan, Gwynne (2025-03-14). "Mahmoud Khalil Home Arrest Video Released While Trump White House Ups Pressure on Columbia". THE CITY - NYC News. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  41. ↑ Dibler, Lane (2023-12-01). "Christmas is Cancelled in Bethlehem". The Indypendent. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
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  45. 1 2 Nayyar, Rhea (2024-11-12). "Exhibition Looks Back at Columbia's Gaza Solidarity Encampments". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
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  47. ↑ "'Rave next to the gas chambers': Pro-Palestinian protesters compare Gaza to concentration camp". The Jerusalem Post. 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
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  49. ↑ Tracy, Marc (11 June 2024). "Officials Condemn Protest Outside Exhibit Memorializing Oct. 7 Victims". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2024-06-18.
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  56. ↑ "A pro-Israel mob harassed and wounded them. Now the NYC mayor is investigating". Middle East Eye. 2025-04-28. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
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  59. 1 2 Lowe, Shauntel (2025-02-06). "How Palestinians in New York Feel About Trump's Gaza Takeover Plan". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2025-02-06. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  60. ↑ Valdez, Jonah (2024-11-01). ""Every Choice Is Loss": Voters on Their Decision Amid Genocide in Gaza". The Intercept. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  61. ↑ "A protest against Jamaal Bowman revealed the limits of progressive support for Palestine". Middle East Eye. 2024-06-24. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  62. ↑ "Thousands of Protesters Mark Labor Day with Mid-Manhattan March for Palestine". 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  63. ↑ Elbaum, Jack (2025-03-04). "'Western-Backed Project': Founder of Radical Anti-Israel Group Comes Out Strongly Against Ukraine". Algemeiner. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
  64. ↑ Harpaz, Beth (2023-10-03). "After impassioned anti-Israel speech, CUNY Law School reportedly bars student speakers from next commencement". The Forward. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  65. 1 2 Tress, Luke (2024-02-14). "Instagram removes accounts for leading NYC pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
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  69. ↑ Bogen, Amir (2022-08-30). "Palestinians rally in New York in support of hunger-striking prisoner". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
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