Palestinian activist sues Betar USA for violation of civil rights
Palestinian activist sues Betar USA for violation of civil rights Submitted by MEE staff on Thu, 02/26/2026 - 20:03 Nerdeen Kiswani says she has been subjected to physical intimidation and racially-motivated threats Founder of 'Within Our Lifetime' Nerdeen Kiswani attends a rally in support of Palestinians at Tisch Hospital at NYU Langone Health, in New York City, on 14 June 2024 (Michael M Santiago/Getty Images via AFP) Off A prominent New York City-based Palestinian-American activist is suing the far-right Jewish-American group Betar USA after she says she endured a monthslong campaign of violent threats. Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the pro-Palestinian political organisation Within Our Lifetime, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Wednesday in the southern district of New York. "I feel like I'm finally taking matters into my own hands," she told Middle East Eye on Thursday. "One thing that Zionist organisations like to do is really try to make us feel helpless. That they can kill our people back home, they can attack us here... [and] nothing will be done about it," she said. Kiswani's lawyers say that she has been unlawfully targeted. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); "Betar has exhibited a dangerous fixation on Ms Kiswani that goes far beyond protected speech," Christopher Godshall-Bennett and Eric Lee said in a press release. "It has used its social media accounts to publicly offer cash rewards to anyone who would hand Ms Kiswani a beeper, a direct reference to Israel’s 2024 use of exploding pagers to kill Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. On multiple occasions, Betar affiliates physically confronted Ms Kiswani on public sidewalks and at demonstrations, cornering her and shouting threats," they described. Betar also urged the Trump administration to revoke Kiswani's US citizenship and submitted her name to federal authorities for deportation, her lawyers say. Betar USA has previously boasted of collecting names of people participating in pro-Palestine activities and then sending them to the Trump administration. That course of action led to the harassment, arrest and detention of several international students, particularly in New York City. Some eventually self-deported without completing their studies because the environment became too hostile. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The New York chapter of the group was compelled to wind down operations after an investigation by the state’s attorney general last month found that the group repeatedly targeted individuals based on their faith and ethnic origin, specifically Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Jewish New Yorkers. Far-right Jewish-American group Betar to wind down operations after investigation Read More » Kiswani herself is a naturalised US citizen who came to the US as a Palestinian refugee when she was one. The lawsuit isn't just designed to send a message, Kiswani noted. "We feel like we do have a very strong case here, and we wouldn't have filed it if we didn't think that was the case." The lawsuit utilises the Ku Klux Klan Enforcement Act of 1871, which is a Reconstruction-era civil rights statute enacted to protect freed slaves and Republican activists from organised racial terror. "This law was necessary to enforce the rights won through the Civil War," Lee, one of the lawyers representing Kiswani, said in the press release. "Betar USA believes that far-right control of the White House and Congress gives it authority to terrorize pregnant Palestinian refugees who oppose Israel’s genocide against Palestine... we aim to end Betar USA’s campaign of terror and vindicate everyone's basic democratic rights." Kiswani is represented by Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. What is Betar? The group describes itself as "loud, proud, aggressive and unapologetically Zionist", and has drawn the ire of both pro-Palestine activists as well as the mainstream Jewish-American establishment for its hostile approach. "We aren’t the nice, polite Jews, we are the loud, proud Zionists. We are online and offline and we are direct, clear and proud Betarim," the official website reads. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Betar USA has trolled pro-Palestine activists and advocates, including Jewish Americans, vandalised property, and has openly called for vigilante-type action against student protesters as well as for the destruction of Gaza. The group is part of a larger organisation that began more than 100 years ago and is partially responsible for shaping the far-right movement in Israel. It was formed by the right-wing Zionist ideologue Ze'ev Jabotinsky during a visit to Latvia in 1923. Though it's commonly referred to as Betar, the group's formal name is Brit Yosef Trumpeldor, after a Jewish settler who was killed in a firefight with Palestinians in 1920 at a Jewish settlement called Tel Hai in northern Palestine. The word "Betar" means "fortress" in Hebrew, but is more significantly an amalgamation of the letters of the group's formal name. Trumpeldor's "defence" of the settlement made him a folk hero among Zionists, even as details of the battle itself are disputed. Nonetheless, Jabotinsky used the tale of Trumpeldor to create a youth paramilitary organisation that sought to engineer an unapologetic, muscular Jewish identity in the pursuit towards building a Jewish home in Palestine. Betar USA was formed in 1929. It became a US tax-exempt nonprofit in July 2024. According to its website, Betar currently has chapters in New Orleans, Dallas, and Washington, DC, but its membership numbers are unclear. Outside of the GoFundMe link on their website, MEE has not been able to ascertain how the group finances itself. Israel's genocide in Gaza News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0