A pro-Palestinian activist whose home was the target of a foiled firebombing plot had previously filed a federal lawsuit accusing a far-right pro-Israel group of orchestrating threats and intimidation against her.
Weeks before authorities arrested a New Jersey man accused of plotting a Molotov cocktail attack on her home, activist Nerdeen Kiswani filed a lawsuit against Betar Zionist Organization and several of its leaders under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era law originally designed to combat KKK violence.
Kiswani’s suit, filed on Feb. 26, alleges a monthslong campaign of stalking, intimidation and racially motivated threats, including offers of cash rewards to anyone who physically harmed her and repeated confrontations at demonstrations across New York City.
Kiswani, the founder of the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Within Our Lifetime, has organized protests across New York City in support of Palestinians in Gaza, including encampments at universities calling for their divestment from Israel.
Among the incidents detailed in the complaint, the group, also referred to in the lawsuit as Betar USA, allegedly offered $1,000 in January 2025 to any member of the public who could hand Kiswani “a beeper” — an apparent reference to a September 2024 Israeli military operation in which pagers and other electronic devices exploded in Lebanon, killing and injuring many.
Betar USA members also confronted Kiswani at demonstrations and petitioned the Trump administration to strip her of her U.S. citizenship, submitting her name to federal authorities for that purpose, according to the lawsuit.
Betar USA did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The two cases underscore heightened tensions since the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023 and how that climate has contributed to violent incidents in the U.S.
On Thursday, Alexander Heifler was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of destructive devices and manufacturing destructive devices, according to a complaint filed in U.S. district court in New Jersey. The NYPD said it identified and disrupted the plot.
The charges against him each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fine of $10,000.
Court documents describe an undercover NYPD officer participating in a video call in February where Heifler asked the group about a location where he could throw “Molotovs,” according to the complaint. Over the following weeks, Heifler met with the officer in person and allegedly shared the home address of an individual he intended to attack, along with details about vehicles parked outside the residence. The complaint does not identify Kiswani by name.
Heifler allegedly planned to flee the country after carrying out the attack and intended to wear gloves to avoid leaving DNA evidence, according to the complaint.
When law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home on Thursday — the same day he met again with the undercover officer — they recovered eight assembled Molotov cocktails. An FBI bomb technician found the devices contained ethanol as an ignition accelerant.
Heifler is alleged to have been affiliated with the Jewish Defense League, which the FBI has classified as a right-wing terrorist organization.
In a statement, which did not name Heifler, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said an alleged member of an offshoot of the Jewish Defense League was arrested in connection with a threat to Kiswani. He called the threat “a chilling act of political violence.”
A court-appointed attorney for Heifler did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent Saturday evening.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said in a statement that the investigation is ongoing but that there is “no current threat to the community.”
In a statement posted to X, Kiswani said she was notified late Thursday night by an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force of a plot against her life that had been “about to” be carried out.
“For months, Zionist organizations like Betar … have encouraged violence against my family and me,” Kiswani wrote in the statement, adding that she “will not stop speaking up for the people of Palestine.”
Attorneys for Kiswani said she had been targeted by right-wing and “Zionist extremist groups and individuals” for several years in what they described as an effort to silence her advocacy.
“Their encouragement of physical violence against her has now resulted in an attempt on her life,” read a statement from law firm Lee & Godshall-Bennett. “Those responsible for this attempted act of terrorism must be held to account. Regardless of opinion, everyone who cares about our freedom to express our views and beliefs should unequivocally stand with Nerdeen.”
