“I will continue to defend the Palestinian people”: a foiled attack plan against an American pro-Palestinian activist

He is a New York figure in the defense of the Palestinians. Nerdeen Kiswani, American activist, announced this Friday that the FBI had foiled an assassination plan against her, while the authorities claim to have arrested a man in possession of incendiary devices.

“Late last night, the FBI Counterterrorism Task Force informed me that a plot to take my life was on the verge to happen,” says Nerdeen Kiswani on X. She adds that a police operation was carried out in this case in Hoboken, in New Jersey (east).

The federal prosecutor’s office in this state announced in a press release the arrest of a man, presented as Alexander Heifler, 26, for “illegal possession and manufacture of destructive devices”, in this case Molotov cocktails.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the young man planned to “use these homemade incendiary devices against the home of another person.” According to the New York Times, eight Molotov cocktails were found at the suspect’s home, which he intended to use against the activist’s home.

A climate of “violence”

Leader of the group Within Our Lifetime, at the forefront of organizing pro-Palestinian demonstrations in New York, particularly during the war in Gaza, Nerdeen Kiswani is regularly the target of pro-Israeli groups on the Internet.

Last month, she filed a lawsuit against the American branch of Betar, a right-wing international Jewish movement, for allegedly inciting people on social media to harass or attack her.

“For months, Zionist organizations like Betar and politicians like Randy Fine have encouraged violence against my family and me (…) I will continue to defend the Palestinian people,” she wrote on X.

“If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not difficult,” Randy Fine, elected Republican from Florida, wrote on

“This disturbing case highlights the growing climate of harassment, threats and violence targeting those who speak out on Palestinian rights and other social justice issues,” responded the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization defending Muslim civil rights.