US Palestinian activist says FBI foiled assassination plot against her 

United States law enforcement agencies have announced that they foiled 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.

Kiswani, the 31-year-old cofounder of the activist group Within Our Lifetime, said that she had been informed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) late on Thursday of a threat against her life. The arrest was the result of an undercover law enforcement operation.

“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,” Kiswani said in a social media post.

“I will have more to say as additional details come to light,” she added. “I will not stop speaking up for the people of Palestine.”

A federal complaint has identified the suspect as a New Jersey man named Andrew Heifler, 26.

He was reportedly arrested on Thursday while assembling Molotov cocktails to throw at Kiswani’s home. He was charged in the criminal complaint with counts of making and possessing destructive devices.

“I feel very blessed that they were able to thwart this,” Kiswani said of law enforcement. “But it’s something that is a constant possibility for people who speak up on behalf 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.

Advocates have also noted an increase in hateful rhetoric from US lawmakers against Muslims and Palestinians.

Kiswani said in her social media 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 time the suspect Heifler discussed his plans with an undercover agent. He also drove with the agent to surveil Kiswani’s home on March 4.

According to the complaint, Heifer 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 reportedly met at the suspect’s Hoboken residence. Heifler was carrying a large bottle of Everclear, a liquor with a high alcohol content level and had other components to make the Molotov cocktails at his home, the complaint said.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant on the home, where they recovered eight Molotov cocktails.

Details regarding the role the undercover agent may have played in Heifler’s efforts remain unclear.

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 preventing them.

Those 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 that the operation was conducted through its Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism (REME) unit, formed in 2019 as a response to far-right hate groups.