(Washington, D.C., 3/28/2026) – The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the nation’s largest umbrella group of Muslim American organizations and houses of worship, today called for an end to the years-long campaign to demonize and silence Palestinian-Americans and others opposed to the Gaza genocide after law enforcement foiled a plot by a Zionist extremist associated with the Jewish Defense League to firebomb Palestinian-American activist Nerdeen Kiswani’s New York City home.
In a statement, USCMO Secretary General Oussama Jammal said:
“USCMO and the American Muslim community strongly condemn the attempted assassination of Palestinian-American activist and Within Our Lifetime Founder Nerdeen Kiswani. We also condemn and demand an end to the dangerous, years-long campaign by colleges, businesses, media outlets and politicians to smear and silence Palestinian-Americans and other Americans who dare to oppose Israel’s crimes.
“During the Biden administration and to an even greater extent during the Trump administration, the federal government has downplayed or outright ignored the very real threat of anti-Palestinian racism while contributing to anti-Palestinian hate by conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
From the stabbing of six-year-old Wadea in Chicago to the stabbing of pro-Palestine activists outside UT Austin to the shooting of three Palestinian college kids in Vermont to the attempted assassination of Nerdeen and many other incidents, hate crimes against Palestinian-Americans have spun out of control. So have attacks on pro-Palestine activists by colleges, businesses and the government itself. President Trump has repeatedly used ‘Palestinian’ as a racist slur. This must end.
“We call on federal law enforcement to prosecute this suspect to the full extent of the law, end its reported collaboration with anti-Palestinian hate groups like Betar and the so-called Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and end its campaign to smear and silence Americans who dare to oppose Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.”
The FBI arrested suspect Alexander Heifler of Hoboken, New Jersey, on Thursday, saying he was a member of an “offshoot” of the Jewish Defense League (JDL).
“I’m not shocked,” Kiswani, founder of the Palestine advocacy group Within Our Lifetime, said. “But you know, it’s still something that does shake me to my core.”
Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, noted the terror plot “comes amid an alarming rise in threats and violence across the country targeting Palestinian human rights advocates.”
“Palestinian activists, our supporters, are intimidated, harassed, doxed, threatened with impunity by Zionists constantly,” said Kiswani.
“There’s absolutely no accountability,” she said. “This is something that’s encouraged and supported by people who are part of this government that we live under.”
Indeed, Kiswani sued far-right Jewish extremist group Betar USA last month after experiencing a campaign targeting her with violent threats, cited by her lawyers.
“Betar has exhibited a dangerous fixation on Ms. Kiswani that goes far beyond protected speech,” Christopher Godshall-Bennett and Eric Lee said in a press release, as reported by Middle East Eye.
“It has used its social media accounts to publicly offer cash rewards to anyone who would hand Ms. Kiswani a beeper, a direct reference to Israel’s 2024 use of exploding pagers to kill Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. On multiple occasions, Betar affiliates physically confronted Ms. Kiswani on public sidewalks and at demonstrations, cornering her and shouting threats,” notes the report.
Betar also urged the Trump administration to revoke Kiswani’s US citizenship and submitted her name to federal authorities for deportation, said her lawyers.
Betar has openly stated that it collects pro-Palestine activity participants’ names and sends them to the Trump administration to incite federal action against them.
Last month, a New York state’s attorney investigation of Betar found that it repeatedly targeted individuals based on their faith and ethnic origin – specifically Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Jewish New Yorkers – leading to a reported winding down of their New York operations.
Betar is not the only radically anti-Palestine, anti-Muslim Zionist extremist organization group that needs investigation.
USCMO urges American Muslims, pro-Palestine, and antiwar advocates to remain vigilant and asks American local and federal law enforcement to step up their protection of mosques, such advocates, and community members.
USCMO here reiterates its call on the U.S. Congress to establish the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia parallel to the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
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