Nerdeen Kiswani

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Nerdeen Kiswani
نردين كسواني
Alma mater	CUNY School of Law
Organization	Within Our Lifetime

Nerdeen Kiswani (Arabic: نردين كسواني) is a Palestinian-American activist and organizer. She is a co-founder and chair of Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestinian activist group in New York City.

Early life

Nerdeen Kiswani is the child of Palestinian refugees from Beit Iksa, and was raised in Brooklyn. She has stated that growing up in a post-9/11 United States in which Muslims "were used to being called terrorists at school" was freeing in that her generation is no longer affected by that kind of propaganda.

Student activism

As a student at the School of Law of the City University of New York (CUNY), Kiswani helped pass two resolutions in favor of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Along with other students, she was involved in the establishment of NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, representing a coalition from across the various CUNY schools. Kiswani has studied revolutionary movements and stated armed resistance has always been a part of them. She has described her use of the phrase "by any means necessary" as echoing Malcolm X.

She was elected to be the graduation speaker for the class of 2022. Her speech was widely shared and discussed. It addressed the Israeli assassination of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Online Harassment

Kiswani stated that she was subject to harassment and death threats from Zionists attempting to suppress pro-Palestinian speech since she enrolled at CUNY School of Law. She has claimed to face intense slander, intimidation, and smear campaigns coming from rightwing media, Zionist organizations, city politicians, and Hollywood actors.

In 2021, the New York Times, reported that activists had sent a barrage of pre-written emails to Ms. Kiswani’s school and her deans." According to Kiswani, the emails inundated the school administration with emails claiming she was antisemitic. In response, CUNY School of Law released statements in support of her free speech.

Criticism

Pro-Israel and Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Canary Mission, and StopAntisemitism have claimed she is antisemitic. Kiswani has stated that she is not antisemitic. In June 2021, in response to student pressure, the school's administration released a statement supporting her. She was ultimately absolved of any wrongdoing with the interim dean stating that no cause to discipline Kiswani was found and that she remains in good standing with the university.

The day after Kiswani spoke at a protest outside a Nova Music Festival commemorative exhibition in June 2024, Democrat U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the protest as "atrocious antisemitism-plain and simple". According to Kiswani, “the Nova Music Festival was a rave next to a concentration camp,” and “the exhibit at 35 Wall Street in NYC is propaganda used to justify the genocide in Palestine.”

Within Our Lifetime

Main article: Within Our Lifetime

In 2015, she co-founded Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestinian activist group in New York City. The organization has organized marches that have shut down the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and the flow of Midtown motor vehicle traffic. The group is known for chanting “Long live the Intifada!” outside an exhibition memorializing victims of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel from Hamas. Meta shut down WOL's Instagram account in February 2024 for violating its prohibition against promoting "dangerous organizations or individuals".

The group has mourned the assassination of Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah and called him and others like him 'martyrs'.. Similarly, WOL has publicly mourned and venerated Yahya Sinwar, the main architect of the October 7th attacks, who was previously convicted of torturing Palestinians in Gaza.

Political views

Kiswani believes that two-state solution has "been dead on arrival for years now." She points to the fact that it's already a one-state reality "that’s controlled by Israel in every sense."

Kiswani believes Palestine has a right to defend itself and supports armed resistance, stating that "people need to be able to defend themselves."

She wrote on X that her group does not want Zionists "in Palestine, NYC, our schools, on the train, ANYWHERE", after a member of Within Our Lifetime shouted for Zionists on a subway train to raise their hand and leave.