Ayoub Alharbi

For more information, see the Canary Mission page Within Our Lifetime: The NYC Org Inciting Its Activists To Violence.

As of April 2025, Ayoub Alharbi’s Facebook page said he was “From Irbil, Iraq.”

May 18, 2021 - Joining a Violent Mob

Alharbi joined [00:00:01] a mob of anti-Israel activists that attacked two men, one of whom held an Israeli flag. The incident occurred during a WOL rally in Manhattan. He also participated [00:04:26] in burning an Israeli flag at the rally. 

In a Daily Mail video of the attack, Alharbi was first visible [00:00:01] on the left side of the screen, dressed in black pants, a light blue short-sleeved jersey, with a maroon sweatshirt slung over his left shoulder and across his chest. He wore a white and black patterned keffiyeh over his head. Alharbi’s face was visible [00:00:06] later in the video.

Alharbi and another man in a black t-shirt and black shorts both physically approached a man holding an Israeli flag, who then tried to repel Alharbi, with a punch. 

A mob of dozens of other anti-Israel activists were behind Alharbi. Among them were Salem Seleiman and Saadah Masoud who punched the two men who were attacked. 

In the same video, Alharbi joined [00:04:26] activists in burning an Israeli flag during the WOL rally. He wore the same keffiyeh and maroon sweatshirt described above. 

The rally occurred during Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls(OGW) in Gaza. 

In May 2021, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets from Gaza at major population centers in Israel. Israel responded by launching OGW, carrying out targeted military strikes in Gaza.

Activists at the rally chanted [00:26:01]: “Hey Hey, Ho Ho! Israel has got to go!” Other activists also chanted [00:36:28]: “There is only one solution! Intifada, Revolution!” 
 
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.  

May 20-21, 2021 - Anti-Semitism at a Violent Protest

Alharbi chanted [00:40:45] “Nazis! Nazis!” at Israel supporters and also yelled [00:00:29] “F**k you!” at them. 


The incident occurred at a violent counterprotest against a pro-Israel rally in Times Square. Alharbi appeared [00:00:29] in the videos [00:40:45] behind a police barrier. He wore a white Tupac Shakur t-shirt, dark shorts and a white and black-patterned keffiyeh.

At the rally, anti-Israel activists pushed against a police barricade erected to separate the anti-Israel and pro-Israel demonstrators. The anti-Israel demonstrators breached the barricade and then Alharbi and other anti-Israel activists marched [00:35:36] toward the pro-Israel side where many verbally assaulted pro-Israel activists. 

As Alharbi marched [00:00:42] over the barrier with the other activists, he yelled [00:00:29] “F**k you!” Some of the anti-Israel activists approached the pro-Israel activists and stole their Israeli flags.  

The anti-Israel activists then moved back to their side of the barricade, where Alharbi and other activsts chanted at the pro-Israel side [00:40:45]: “Nazis! Nazis!”

After demonstrators threw projectiles, police removed the barricade and proceeded to arrest several anti-Israel activists. Police declared that the “assembly is unlawful” and demanded the crowd disperse or be arrested. Despite police warnings, some rioters reportedly continued to throw projectiles at police, while others fled the scene.

The police proceeded to arrest several anti-Israel activists while more fled [00:03:48] the scene. 

Police used bicycles to both disperse the rioters and pursue a number of them. Some rioters overturned police barricades to create obstacles in the street. Others threw garbage bags filled with trash onto the street while others dragged traffic barriers onto the street and overturned fencing. 

Also on May 20, 2021, anti-Israel activists from the counterprotest violently attacked and reportedly yelled anti-Semitic slurs at Joseph Borgen, a Jewish man, who was heading to the pro-Israel rally. Police arrested two of the anti-Israel activists, charging them with assault as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime and aggravated harassment as a hate crime. That same day, other anti-Israel activists also shot fireworks and spat at people. 

On May 21, 2021, WOL posted two Instagram posts that portrayed the rioters as victims and offered legal support and advice to anyone arrested.

Hatred of Israel

On May 14, 2021, Alharbi tweeted against a 2020 tweet that said: “Do you stand with #Israel? ” 

 
Alharbi wrote: “No I sit on it and take a s**t and whipe [sic] my a** on it.”

Attending Four WOL Rallies May - June 2021

 May 15, 2021: Brooklyn

Alharbi participated [slides 1 and 5] in a WOL protest in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, titled: “NAKBA 73 DEFEND PALESTINE!” In one Instagram photo, he held a sign that read: “The Oppressor MAY Sleep but THE Oppressed IS AWAKE!”

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”

Other protesters chanted: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” 

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

Protesters at the rally chanted: “Israel is a terrorist state!” and: “Israel is a crime!” 
 
Protesters also chanted: “Free Free Al Aqsa!,” a reference to Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque. The WOL flyer for the event included the hashtag: “#SAVESHEIKHJARRAH.” 

In May 2021, Palestinian violence erupted in anticipation of an Israel High Court ruling on eviction proceedings concerning over 70 Palestinian tenants illegally residing in Jewish-owned properties in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.