The organizer of a radical pro-Palestinian protest attended by thousands of New Yorkers appears to have endorsed Hamas’ terror attacks as “heroic” while calling for a mass mobilization to “honor our martyrs.”
Nerdeen Kiswani, from Brooklyn, New York, is president and co-founder of Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an extremist pro-Palestinian group that was behind an allegedly “pro-Hamas” rally on Saturday.
Thousands of protesters marched through the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn calling for the “complete liberation of all Palestine,” with some repeating a refrain — “from the river to the sea” — used by Hamas terrorists.
WOL claims around 50,000 people attended Saturday’s rally, which led to clashes with police and around 20 arrests.
None of the group’s literature advertising the event mentions Hamas and it is unclear how many of them were aware of or supported the group’s extremist agenda.
But DailyMail.com can now reveal the full extent of WOL’s apparent support for Hamas, whom they have previously described as ‘freedom fighters’.
Nerdeen Kiswani, from Brooklyn, New York, is the co-founder of Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an extremist pro-Palestinian group that was behind an allegedly ‘pro-Hamas’ rally on Saturday
On October 7, hours after Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel, Kiswani shared a post from WOL on Platform to let it be known that NYC stands with Gaza’
WOL claimed that around 50,000 people attended the pro-Palestinian protest in Brooklyn on Saturday
WOL and Kiswani also appear to have suggested that their barbaric attacks on Israeli civilians, which killed children and entire families and took 203 people hostage, were justified.
On October 7 at 3:12 p.m., hours after Hamas launched its attack, killing more than 1,400 people, Kiswani shared a WOL post on platform resistance, honor our martyrs and let the world know that NYC stands with Gaza.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors anti-Semitism and extremism, WOL also posted on October 7: ‘We must defend the Palestinian right to resist Zionist (sic) settler violence and Palestinian resistance in all its support shapes.
‘In any case necessary. Without exceptions and without fine print.’
The WOL website states that oppressed people “have the right to gain their liberation by any means necessary.”
Protesters at Saturday’s rally in Brooklyn called for an “end to the occupation” of Gaza and described Zionism as “genocide.”
However, New York’s Jewish councilor Ari Kagan said it was not a rally for the liberation of Gaza, but in fact a “shameful pro-Hamas and anti-Israel rally.”
WOL’s literature advertising the event does not explicitly express support for Hamas.
But the ‘Rally Toolkit’, available on its website, has recently been updated to refer to the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ – the name Hamas gave to its series of coordinated attacks on Israel on October 7 – and says it will ‘bring the world has shaken’. foundations of the Zionist state and inspired the world that liberation is possible and that the (sic) hour is near’.
It includes a list of chants, including controversial slogans such as “from the river to the sea” and “it’s good to rebel!” Israel is going to hell!’.
In 2014, Kiswani shared a statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) after it killed four worshipers in a synagogue in Jerusalem, saying their actions were a “natural response” to Israeli aggression, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In 2022, she was accused of anti-Semitism after giving a speech at New York’s CUNY Law School in which she denounced “Zionists” and condemned “normalizing” travel to Israel.
Kiswani and WOL also shared material praising PFLP and one of its leaders, Leila Khaled, known for her role in the hijacking of two civilian airliners.
WOL’s previous statements and long history of alleged anti-Semitism also suggest that Saturday’s protest was at least organized by a radical group with underlying sympathies for the terrorist group.
In February 2023, WOL mourned the deaths of “freedom fighters” after five Hamas members were killed in an Israeli operation in Jericho, according to the ADL.
In 2014, Kiswani shared a statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) after it killed four worshipers in a shooting and meat cleaver attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem, saying their actions were a “natural response” to Israeli aggression . says the ADL.
Kiswani and WOL also shared material praising PFLP and one of its leaders, Leila Khaled, known for her role in the hijacking of two civilian airliners, TWA Flight 840 in 1969 (en route to Tel Aviv from Rome) and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. (travelling from Amsterdam to New York City).
In 2022, Kiswani shared a meme of the Little Miss children’s cartoon character on her Instagram page in 2022, writing: ‘Little Miss telling everyone Israel is (sic) will inshallah (God willing) of the map will be wiped.’
She was accused of anti-Semitism that same year after giving a speech at the CUNY Law School in Queens, New York, in which she denounced “Zionists” and condemned “normalizing” travel to Israel.
The ADL alleges that Kiswani and WOL used social media at least four times to share “classic anti-Semitic tropes related to alleged Israeli and ‘Zionist’ control or nefarious influence over Hollywood, sexual violence against women, politics, media and more.”
Thousands attended a pro-Palestine rally in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn on Saturday
Protesters called for an ‘end to the occupation’ of Gaza and described Zionism as ‘genocide’
The protests led to clashes with police and about twenty arrests
It is unclear how many of them were aware of or supported WOL’s extremist agenda
However, New York’s Jewish councilor Ari Kagan said it was not a rally for the liberation of Gaza, but in fact a “shameful pro-Hamas and anti-Israel rally.”
Founded in 2015, WOL has hosted rallies in New York City that have attracted thousands of attendees, including one in May this year that was promoted as a “family-friendly event” with “face painting, coloring books and more activities for kids.”
There was no mention of the group’s sympathy for Hamas, whose militants are responsible for the murders of innocent Israeli children.
More recently, Kiswani has shared content from the TMJ News Network, which describes itself as an independent media outlet with a “God Centric Lens.”
On October 8, TMJ shared a clip on its Telegram channel of people fleeing a festival in which about 260 revelers were killed by Hamas, with the caption: “Footage shows large numbers of Israeli settlers running from occupied territories on foot.”
Kiswani, a CUNY Law School graduate who was born and raised in Brooklyn, has previously shrugged off accusations of anti-Semitism from various quarters, he told the US website Mondoweiss that she “didn’t understand what exactly it was about me that made these people so concerned about me.”
Sickening images emerged of a man laughing in a Jewish woman’s face after she confronted him and his female accomplice about tearing up posters of missing Israeli children in Brooklyn last weekend – the latest in a series of similar incidents in New York. City.
DailyMail.com has contacted WOL and Kiswani for comment.