United States law enforcement agencies have announced the foiling of a plot against prominent Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani in New York City, detaining a suspect for allegedly planning to throw Molotov cocktails at her home. The suspect, 26-year-old Andrew Heifler, was arrested as part of an undercover operation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informed Kiswani late on Thursday of a threat against her life.
Kiswani, the 31-year-old cofounder of the activist group Within Our Lifetime, stated in a social media post: “Late last night, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force informed me that a plot against my life that was ‘about to’ take place, and that agents had conducted an operation in Hoboken related to this plot.” She added: “I will not stop speaking up for the people of Palestine.”
The incident comes at a time when Palestinian rights activists in the US have faced high levels of harassment and surveillance from both government authorities and far-right pro-Israel groups. Kiswani noted in her post that “Zionist organizations like Betar and politicians like Randy Fine have encouraged violence against my family and me” for several months. Fine, a Republican congressman from Florida and outspoken supporter of Israel, suggested in a social media post last month that Muslims were inferior to dogs.
Thursday’s arrest was part of a weeks-long operation, during which the suspect Heifler discussed his plans with an undercover agent and drove with the agent to surveil Kiswani’s home on March 4. According to the complaint, Heifler told the undercover agent that he had Kiswani’s address and talked about making Molotov cocktails and his plans to flee the country. On Thursday, the undercover officer and Heifler met at the suspect’s Hoboken residence, where Heifler was carrying a large bottle of Everclear liquor and other components to make Molotov cocktails; a search warrant recovered eight such devices.
US law enforcement agencies have previously faced criticism for using undercover agents to help plan attacks with suspects, only to foil them and claim credit for prevention. These methods, which some rights advocates argue amount to illegal entrapment, often targeted Muslim communities during the post-9/11 period. The New York Police Department said the operation was conducted through its Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism (REME) unit, formed in 2019 as a response to far-right hate groups.
Source: www.aljazeera.com