Israeli Think Tank: Terror Groups Orchestrated Borough Park Protest

BROOKLYN (VINnews) – An Israel-based research institute is shedding some light on the group that gathered in Borough Park on February 18th to protest a real estate expo, classifying it as an affiliate of a larger group that has been designated by the United States government as a terrorist organization.

According to NGO Monitor, Pal-Awda is the New York/New Jersey branch of Al-Awda, which also goes by the name The Palestine Right to Return Coalition. As previously reported on VIN News Pal-Awda rallied its supporters to demonstrate against The Getter Group’s real estate expo, saying that it was promoting the sale of land in “occupied Palestine.”

As part of its mission to provide transparency about NGOs that claim to be dedicated to promoting human rights, particularly those related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, NGO Monitor has researched Al-Awda, and has said that it is linked to Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States Treasury Department.

NGO Monitor research director Yona Schiffmiller described the Borough Park protest as an operation that was deliberately intended to target Jews. Al-Awda made clear references to October 7th in promoting the demonstration, with one Instagram post urging followers to “FLOOD BORO PARK TO PROTEST STOLEN LAND REAL ESTATE EVENT.” Hamas has referred to the October 7th terror attacks as the “Al-Aqsa flood.”

Samidoun and Al-Awda haven’t shied away from expressing their anti-Semitic and violent views, said Schiffmiller.

According to a February 19th post on NGO Monitor’s website, Samidoun officials have publicly praised Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the group’s European coordinator was banned from Germany and denied entry into the Netherlands because of Samidoun’s terrorist ties. The post also said that Samidoun international coordinator and Al-Awda national board member Charlotte Kates publicly stated in March 2024, “There is nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, being a leader of Hamas, being a fighter in Hamas,” and after being arrested as part of hate crime investigation in Vancouver two months later, she praised the October 7th attacks as being “heroic and brave.”

Al-Awda’s history of inciting violence against Israeli citizens includes a statement issued on October 8th, 2023 affirming its “unwavering support of the Palestinian resistance” which also noted, “The Palestinian resistance, through their brave actions, are forging a path to bring the ongoing Nakba to an end.” A May 2024 statement released by Al-Awda in conjunction with several other groups urged protestors at an Orlando demonstration to exercise their “right to resist by any means necessary,” and called for “complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” And an April 2022 speech given by Al-Awda’s New York representative Lamis Deek, reportedly classified all Palestinians as freedom fighters who battle “for the safety and the protection of all people to whom Israel is apartheid, is a global threat.”

In the wake of the Borough Park protest, which turned violent at times and had police stepping in multiple times to separate the two groups as tempers flared, Schiffmiller called for concrete steps to be taken to stop pro-terror groups from organizing similar rallies.

“To prevent further antisemitic violence, NGO Monitor urges local and Federal authorities to investigate Al-Awda’s connections to terrorist organizations and to take necessary action against a broader Samidoun network that includes 501(c)3 tax-exempt charities.”