Within Our Lifetime (WOL), is a Palestinian-led pro-Palestinian community activist group, primarily active in New York City. WOL expressed support for the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and was one of the most active pro-Palestine protest organizers during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.

WOL has been criticized for evoking Hamas's name for the October 7 attack in its marches. Several WOL activists have been convicted for attacks on Jews.

Description

Within Our Lifetime is a Palestinian-led pro-Palestinian activist group active among youth[1] and on college campuses, primarily in the New York City area.[2][3]

The group is most closely affiliated with activists at the City University of New York (CUNY), where leaders delivered a wide array of anti-Israel commencement speeches in May 2023.[4] WOL founder, Nerdeen Kiswani, was president of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at CUNY School of Law.[5]

WOL closely works with SJP on campus initiatives and protests. Both groups are anti-Zionist, call to "Globalize the Intifada", ostracize Zionists, and refuse to speak with what they claim to be the "Zionist media."[5]

Along with SJP, WOL is considered to have become a hybrid organization that includes activists from different backgrounds involved in pro-Palestinian activism.[2]

Activities

On 19 April 2019, WOL broke out into spontaneous dabke at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York as part of a protest against gentrification led by Decolonize This Place (DTP).[1]

At a WOL demonstration on 20 April 2022, in New York City during the 2022 Al-Aqsa clashes in Jerusalem, WOL organizer Saadah Masoud attacked Matt Greenman, a visibly Jewish man heading to a pro-Israel rally. Masoud was one of three WOL activists arrested or imprisoned for attacking Jews as of November 2023.[6][7]

In November 2022, WOL joined with a coalition of Palestinian advocacy groups, including Samidoun, in an effort to secure a prison release of defendants in the Holy Land Foundation case.[8]

2023 Israel-Hamas war

WOL expressed support for the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. On the day of the attack, WOL announced a rally in Times Square for October 8 and at the Israeli consulate in New York for October 9 "to defend the heroic Palestinian resistance."[4] At the end of October, WOL's website "called the Hamas attack an inspiration to the world." It was later replaced by a denunciation of Israel's military operations in Gaza.[9]

During the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, WOL was one of the key organizers of protests in New York.[2] The day after the beginning of the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip on 27 October 2023, WOL organized a demonstration that marched from the Brooklyn Museum to the Brooklyn Bridge calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.[3] The group's protests have been called "Flood Brooklyn for Gaza", evoking Hamas's name for the October 7 attacks, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and included banners reading "By any means necessary" and "Globalize the Intifada".[10][7] "By any means necessary" is a slogan that can be interpreted as justification for the October 7 Hamas attack.[10] Marches in Brooklyn have begun in heavily Jewish areas, such as Crown Heights, leading Jewish security groups to warn Jewish resident to stay at home for safety.[10][11]

In November, the group posted maps on its social media accounts that detailed the locations of Jewish organizations in New York City, saying they had "blood on their hands." The post ended with the phrase "From the river to the sea". The posts were condemned by elected officials and Jewish leaders. Several other CUNY groups also shared the maps before they were deleted by WOL.[7]

WOL organized a "Flood the Tree Lighting for Gaza" to disrupt the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting on November 30. The name caused controversy which evokes Hamas's name for the October 7 attacks, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.[12]

Criticism

Within Our Lifetime has received criticism for its support for Hamas and its anti-Israel sentiments. The group's leader, Nerdeen Kiswani, has been associated with incidents involving violence against Jews and the group's actions have been strongly condemned by various organizations and officials.[4][13] In 2020, StopAntisemitism.org named WOL group leader, Nerdeen Kiswani, as the “Antisemite of the Year.”[14] The Anti-Defamation League has expressed similar sentiments stating that WOL is "a radical New York-based anti-Israel organization that routinely expresses support for violence against Israel."[15]

In 2022, WOL was temporarily banned from Instagram after it posted a collage featuring Rasmea Odeh, convicted of involvement in the 1969 Jerusalem bombings and Leila Khaled, part of a group responsible for the TWA Flight 840 hijacking.[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Palestine Unbound". Journal of Palestine Studies. 48 (4): 147. Summer 2019. JSTOR 26873249.
  2. 1 2 3 Rosen, Ehud (2023). "The War in Gaza and the Domestic Threat in the West". Institute for National Security Studies. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 Nolan, Erin (2023-10-28). "Protesters fill the streets in New York to support Palestinians in Gaza". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-11-01. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Tress, Luke (2023-10-08). "US pro-Palestinian groups applaud Hamas terror onslaught, plan support rallies". Times of Israel. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 Tress, Luke (2023-05-07). "NYC's public law school releases video of 'antisemitic' commencement speech". Times of Israel. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Starr, Michael (2022-07-01). "Anti-Israel activist charged with hate crime for assault of NYC Jewish man". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Tress, Luke. "US pro-Palestinian group blasted for map of Jewish groups with 'blood on their hands'". New York Jewish Week. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Arria, Michael (2022-11-29). "Palestine advocates launch campaign to free Holy Land Five members". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Silverstein, Andrew (2023-11-10). "'Do you condemn Hamas?' — why a seemingly legitimate question has become controversial". The Forward. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Maltz, Judy (2023-10-29). "'By Any Means Necessary': Thousands in Brooklyn Stand Behind Sign Legitimizing Hamas Terror". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2023-10-30. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Tress, Luke (2023-10-27). "Jewish security group warns Jews to stay away from pro-Palestinian rally on Shabbat calling to 'Flood Brooklyn for Gaza'". New York Jewish Week. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Harris, Chris (2023-11-28). "Pro-Palestine Protesters Plan to 'Flood' NYC's Rockefeller Center to Disrupt Tomorrow's Christmas Tree Lighting". The Messenger. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Green, Dominic. "Meet the Palestine activist who likes playing with fire". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  14. 1 2 Isaac, David (14 March 2022). "Instagram bans anti-Israel group after it posts collage featuring terrorists". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Nerdeen Kiswani and Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine: What You Need to Know | ADL". www.adl.org. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
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