Palestinian radicals like Nerdeen Kiswani called for “intifada” in the streets of NYC.

NERDEEN KISWANI

Kiswani is co-founder and chair of Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a pro-Palestine activist group in New York City. She has been credited with influencing Gaza War protests in the US, including student protests. Wikipedia

On August 5, 2023 — two months before October 7 — Kiswani posted Facebook photos of a visit to Israel/Palestine, writing: "It's so important to see everything when we come to Palestine." One photo showed her posing in front of a mural of Leila Khaled, a leading member of the PFLP who participated in two airplane hijackings. Canary Mission

Since October 7, WOL has hosted or co-sponsored approximately 100 anti-Israel rallies, many of which included explicit support for violence against Israeli civilians by US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations Hamas, PFLP, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, as well as affiliated individuals such as Leila Khaled and Hamas military wing spokesperson Abu Obeida. ADL

At a June 2024 protest outside a Nova music festival massacre exhibit, Kiswani referred to Nova as "the place where Zionists decided to rave next to a concentration camp" and called the exhibit "Zionist propaganda." Wikipedia

WOL backed the October 7 Hamas invasion, demanding support for "Palestinian resistance in all its forms. By any means necessary." Kiswani has posted support for Hamas online. The Times of Israel

ABU OBEIDA

Born Huthayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout in 1985, Abu Obeida served as spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades — Hamas's military wing — from 2007 until his death in an Israeli airstrike on August 30, 2025. He was described as "the central figure of al-Qassam's media campaign and had 1500 people report to him in Gaza and hundreds in US." Wikipedia

The IDF described his role: for the past decade, Abu Obeida "was responsible for the propaganda apparatus of Hamas's military wing. In this role, he oversaw spokesperson operations across brigades and battalions, coordinated between political media elements and the military wing, and was the senior figure setting propaganda policy." The Times of Israel

In April 2024, the US sanctioned him as Hamas's "information warfare chief," with the Treasury Department accusing him of leading the "cyber influence department of al-Qassam Brigades." Middle East Eye

The apparatus under his command was "responsible for distributing the atrocities of the October 7 massacre using footage captured by Hamas terrorists," disseminating videos to influence Hamas supporters throughout the world to promote terrorist attacks, and releasing videos of kidnapped Israeli hostages to psychologically terrorize Israelis. FDD.

WOL protesters chanted in Arabic "Abu Obeida, my love, Strike, strike Tel Aviv!" at a 2024 rally — invoking his name directly in calls for attacks on Israel's largest city. ADL

THE WESPAC SHIELD

WESPAC quietly serves as the financial linchpin for Within Our Lifetime, National SJP, and other pro-Palestinian groups by acting as their fiscal sponsor — an arrangement in which a nonprofit collects donations on behalf of other groups that do not have nonprofit status themselves. For the pro-Palestinian groups, the fiscal sponsorship means they can receive tax-deductible donations and grants without filing the tax documents expected of nonprofits — no operating budget, no total assets, no spending disclosures. The Times of Israel

The arrangement allows these groups to receive tax-deductible donations in the US via WESPAC, but without having to publicly disclose financial information. According to one of the lawsuits naming WESPAC as a defendant: "The financial interactions between WESPAC and its anti-Israel clientele is intentionally opaque to largely shield from public view the flow of funds between and among them." NGO Monitor

WESPAC's revenue more than doubled since 2019, when it took in just over $400,000. Its most recent tax filing says it spent more than $600,000 on office expenses — far more than the rent for other units in its office building. A nonprofit accounting expert said that might be a case of inappropriately combining expenses, which is against IRS guidelines.

Tarek Bazrouk, the New York City man indicted on three federal hate crime charges for attacking Jewish counter-protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies across Manhattan, was a member of a chat group that received direct operational updates from Abu Obeida — the masked spokesman for Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades, according to federal court filings. Prosecutors called it the first documented evidence of an American protest agitator receiving information directly from Hamas.