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Within Our Lifetime (WOL)

Website:

wolpalestine.com
Location:

New York, NY
Type:

Pro-Palestinian Advocacy Group
Formation:

2015
Co-Founder:

Nerdeem Kiswani

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Within Our Lifetime (WOL) is a radical pro-Palestinian and allegedly pro-Hamas protest group that has helped organize major pro-Palestinian protests in New York City following the commencement of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023. 1

WOL has been accused of anti-Semitism for openly advocating violence against Israel and Jews at its rallies. Its name originates from pro-Palestinian protesters’ goal of creating a Palestinian state within their lifetimes. 2

History

Within Our Lifetime was founded in 2015 in New York City and operates within a network of anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian groups that organize protests against the state of Israel. 3 WOL existed under the name Students for Justice in Palestine NYC as a subsidiary of National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) until 2019 when it rebranded and expanded beyond its student-based constituency. 4 5 SJP is a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel advocacy group which creates student activism on college campuses. Its efforts include protesting Jewish speakers, supporting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, and supporting student groups which back the BDS movement. 6 7

Initiatives and Protests

Within Our Lifetime has published 12 campaigns on its website, the most prominent of which are its Globalize the Intifada campaign and its Boycott Zionist Dates campaign. 8 Globalize the Intifada was a 2021 initiative to protest against the alleged “ethnic cleansing and genocide” of Palestinians by Israel. 9

Dates are a traditional food eaten to break the Muslim Ramadan fast, and the Boycott Zionist Dates campaign is a 2024 WOL initiative in response to the Israel-Hamas War that encourages Muslims in New York and America to boycott Israeli date producers and suppliers. 10 WOL states that through this campaign, it hopes “to ensure that no one breaks their fast with dates that support occupation and genocide.” 11

WOL’s “points of unity” include commitment to the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland, to the cause of anti-Zionism, to the right to resist, and to the creation of an international struggle against “U.S. imperialism.” 12

In February 2024, WOL published a report on the repression of pro-Palestinian elements in New York City by the New York Police Department. 13 The report argued that New York was engaging in surveillance and discriminatory policing of Muslims, especially those in support of Palestine. 14

Within Our Lifetime organized a march in front of the Brooklyn Museum near the headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish movement in October 2023. WOL intended the protest to be a loud cry “‘in defense of Gaza and Palestine,’” stating on the poster for the protest, “the more they try and silence us, the louder we will be.” 15

WOL participated in another October 2023 protest across the Brooklyn Bridge in support of Jewish Voice for Peace, a radical left-of-center, pro-Hamas group, carrying signs that read, ““Israeli Apartheid & Genocide Funded By The U.S.,” and “Honor the Martyrs of Palestine.” 16

The radical nature of WOL’s social media accounts led Instagram, owned by Meta, to remove the WOL account from its platform. 17

Partners

Within Our Lifetime organizes protests in conjunction with several other pro-Palestinian groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace, Decolonize this Place, and Existence is Resistance. 18 19 20

Leadership

Within Our Lifetime’s co-founder and former chair of Students for Justice in Palestine, NYC, is Nerdeem Kiswani. 21 Kiswani attends City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and has been arrested on numerous occasions for her participation in pro-Hezbollah protests at which she burned the American flag and called for Palestinian intifada, or “rebellion.” 22 23 24

Abdullah Akl is a leading organizer for WOL who has been seen leading several WOL protests. 25 Akl graduated from Long Island University Brooklyn with a degree in Political Science and International Relations, and now attends Harvard University in pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Government. 26 He is also the Director of Advocacy at the Muslim American Society (MAS) Staten Island Center. 27 Akl was arrested in March 2024 at a rally in New York City, where in an X/Twitter post he claimed he was “protesting against the genocide in Gaza.” 28

At the Land Day protest in April 2024, Abdullah Akl was seen shouting in videos of the protest, “Strike, strike, Tel Aviv. Abu Obeida, our beloved,” and calling for “intifada.” 29 The chants were interpreted as an effort to call on Abu Obeida, a Hamas terrorist and leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, to strike the prominent Israeli city of Tel Aviv, and to continue to fight for Palestinian liberation, or intifada. 30 The video has since been deleted from the internet. 31

References

  1. Huddleston, Sarah, Banerjee, Isha, and Chakravarthy, Apurva. “‘Columbia you will see, we are all SJP’: Solidarity protests continue across 116th Street.” Columbia Spectator. April 21, 2024. Accessed May 19, 2024. https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/04/21/columbia-you-will-see-we-are-all-sjp- solidarity- protests-continue-across-116th-street/
  2.  Costescu, Jessica. “Harvard Grad Student Calls on Hamas To ‘Strike Tel Aviv’.” The Washington Free Beacon. April 4, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-grad-student- calls-on-hamas-to-strike-tel-aviv/
  3. Home. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/
  4. “The NGO Network Orchestrating Antisemitic Incitement on American Campuses.” NGO Monitor. May 8, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024.  https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/ngo-network-orchestrating-antisemitic-incitement -on-american -campuses/
  5. Within Our Lifetime. Canary Mission. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://canarymission.org/organization/Within_ Our_Lifetime
  6. National Students for Justice in Palestine, BDS Victories. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.nationalsjp.org/bds-victories.html
  7. Anti-Defamation League, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/students-for-justice-in-palestine-sjp#_edn1
  8.  Campaigns. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/campaigns/
  9. Globalize the Intifada. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/campaigns/ globalize-the-intifada/
  10. Take Action: Boycott Zionist Dates Toolkit. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/campaigns/
  11. Take Action: Boycott Zionist Dates Toolkit. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/campaigns/
  12. Points of Unity. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/sample-page/points -of-unity/
  13. The Crackdown on Palestine: Unveiling NYPD’s Repression Tactics. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/resistrepression/
  14. The Crackdown on Palestine: Unveiling NYPD’s Repression Tactics. Within Our Lifetime. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://wolpalestine.com/resistrepression/
  15. Campanile, Carl, Hicks, Nolan and Guzman, Alyssa. “Pro-Palestine protesters plan to ‘flood’ Brooklyn — near Hasidic Jewish site: ‘The louder we will be.’” New York Post. October 27, 2023. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://nypost.com/2023/10/27/metro/pro-palestine-protesters-plan-to-flood-brooklyn- near-hasidic- jewish-site/
  16. Ahern, Jack. “Protestors Calling For Cease-Fire in Gaza Flood Grand Central & Brooklyn Bridge.” Chelsea News. October 31, 2023. Accessed May 20, 2024.  https://www.chelseanewsny.com/news/protestors-calling-for-cease-fire -in-gaza-flood-grand-central -brooklyn-bridge-CM2824958
  17. Tress, Luke. “Instagram removes accounts for leading NYC pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime.” Times of Israel. February 14, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/instagram-removes- accounts-for-leading-nyc-pro-palestinian-group- within-our-lifetime/
  18. Bernstein, David. “UCLA Professor Dov Waxman on the Pro-Hamas Campus Protests.” Reason. April 28, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://reason.com/volokh/2024/04/28/ucla-professor-dov-waxman-on-the-pro-hamas -campus-protests/
  19. Within Our Lifetime. X. April 18, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://x.com/WOLPalestine/status/ 1781136447560462595
  20. Mann, Sophie. “Pro Palestine protesters who blocked JFK roads vow to flood NYC on International Women’s Day with ‘strike for Gaza’ demonstration.” Daily Mail. March 7, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13169367/pro-palestine-protestors-nyc-international-womens -day-demonstration.html
  21. “The NGO Network Orchestrating Antisemitic Incitement on American Campuses.” NGO Monitor. May 8, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024.  https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/ngo-network-orchestrating-antisemitic-incitement -on-american -campuses/
  22. Nerdeen Kiswani. X. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7 Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
  23. Starr, Michael. “Hezbollah flag flies, US flag burns as calls for death to US sound at NYC protest.” The Jerusalem Post. April 16, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-797321
  24. Nerdeen Kiswani and Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine: What You Need to Know. Anti-Defamation League. April 26, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/nerdeen-kiswani-and- within-our-lifetime-united-palestine-what-you- need-know
  25. Abdullah Akl. Canary Mission. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://canarymission.org/individual/Abdullah_Akl
  26. Abdullah Akl. Instagram. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/abdullahakll/?hl=en
  27.  Abdullah Akl. Instagram. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/abdullahakll/?hl=en
  28. Within Our Lifetime. X. March 21, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://x.com/WOLPalestine/status/177084057 5274545252
  29. Costescu, Jessica. “Harvard Grad Student Calls on Hamas To ‘Strike Tel Aviv’.” The Washington Free Beacon. April 4, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-grad-student- calls-on-hamas-to-strike-tel-aviv/
  30. Costescu, Jessica. “Harvard Grad Student Calls on Hamas To ‘Strike Tel Aviv’.” The Washington Free Beacon. April 4, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-grad-student- calls-on-hamas-to-strike-tel-aviv/
  31. Costescu, Jessica. “Harvard Grad Student Calls on Hamas To ‘Strike Tel Aviv’.” The Washington Free Beacon. April 4, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-grad-student- calls-on-hamas-to-strike-tel-aviv/
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Within Our Lifetime (WOL)


New York, NY