Lissy Romanow

Overview

Lissy Romanow is a co-founder of IfNotNow (INN) who was arrested while showing support for violent protesters, participated in an anti-Israel activist trip, attended an event that repurposed Jewish rituals and has demonized Israel.

As a national leader of INN, Romanow either made the decision or was complicit in INN’s decision to partner with the anti-Semitic American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

As of July 2019, Romanow was the Executive Director of Momentum. Momentum describes itself as a “training institute and movement incubator” that promotes "the mass protest tradition" where, “autonomous groups of individuals create polarizing moments that inspire thousands of unaffiliated people to take to the streets around symbolic, popular social issues."

Romanow helped create the “meta-narrative,” as well as “identity and messaging” for INN with Beyond the Choir.

Beyond the Choir’s website describes itself as an organization that partners with “social justice organizations to craft resonant messaging, plan strategic campaigns, develop leaders, and mobilize larger bases of support.”

As of July 2019, Romanow’s LinkedIn page said that she is a Coach and Trainer at the Ayni Institute since 2014. As of the same date, her Facebook page said that she no longer worked at Ayni. Ayni reportedly “originally incubated the Momentum training.”

As of the same date, Romanow’s LinkedIn said that she graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia) in 2007, with a bachelor’s degree in Religion.

Arrest

On April 11, 2018, Romanow was arrested at an INN LA-organized protest, titled: “Stop the Violence: Vigil & March for Gaza.”

Most of the Gazans who died between March 30 and April 6, 2018, were identified as terror operatives who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, rioting against IDF forces or attempting to breach the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Romanow and other activists blocked the entrance to the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles building while holding a sign that read: “How many more? #EnoughOccupation.” When the activists refused police requests to stop blocking the entrance, they were arrested.

During the protest, activists recited [00:20:11] the Mourner’s Kaddish for Gazans who died during these border riots.

The Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer customarily reserved for close relatives or Jews murdered for being Jews.

The event’s Facebook description said: “While we celebrated our own people's liberation, we witnessed the killing of 30 innocent Palestinians in Gaza. We can no longer stay silent.”

On March 30, 2018, some 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza approached Israel’s border to take part in “Land Day Protests” or the “March of Return.” The violent demonstrations were instigated by Hamas on the Israeli-Gaza border. Participants declared their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”

March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Rioters also made numerous attempts to breach Israel’s border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire.

Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails, firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks under the cover of smoke from burning tires.

Activist Trip to Israel

In May 2017, Romanow participated in a delegation, which was known as the "Justice Justice You Shall Pursue,” to Israel, comprised of INN and Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJN) activists.

CJNV says its partners with anti-Israel groups including Breaking the Silence (BtS) and Youth Against Settlements (YAS).

During the trip, activists reportedly clashed with Israeli security personnel during a protest.

A May 19, 2017, 972mag article showed that the delegation met withIssa Amro, the head of the Youth Against Settlements (YAS) movement, who is known for vandalism and attacking Israeli soldiers in Hebron. Amro has been charged with numerous acts of violence against Israeli civilians and security forces.

On May 13, 2017, Romanow along with several other INN members were tagged in photos participating in a tour with Breaking the Silence.

In July 2016, Breaking the Silence (BTS) was discredited by Israel’s investigative Channel 10 TV show, HaMakor (The Source). HaMakor presented a report revealing that a substantial number of BTS testimonies are untrue or distorted.

The delegation also met with anti-Israel activist, Sam Bahour, who shared to Facebook photo of himself with Romanow and her fellow INN activists on May 12, 2017. Bahour has compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolph Hitler, shown support for convicted terrorists and worked with anti-Israel propagandists, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) activists.

Prior to her trip, on May 3, 2017, Romanow fundraised for the trip on Twitter: “Help me + IfNotNow join 150 Jewish activists from around the world in the West Bank for 10 days of action + learning” with a link to her GoFundMe page.

Repurposing Jewish Rituals

On April 19, 2016, Romanow attended INN Boston’s Liberation Seder at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s Boston office, demanding “an end to the American Jewish community’s support of the occupation.”

A Seder is a Jewish Passover ritual, that involves telling the story of the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in ancient Egypt and their travels to the Promised Land.

INN activists initially blocked the building entrance, then chained themselves to a table in the lobby of the building and manipulated symbols from the Jewish Seder table to represent different aspects of “the occupation.”

Six INN activists were arrested at the protest. INN Boston later celebrated the arrest of the activists.

INN uploaded resources for public use and claimed that approximately 500 people participated in their liberation seders. Twenty three INN activists were reportedly arrested at liberation seder events across the country.

Demonizing Israel

During the March of Return riots on Israel’s border with Gaza, Romanow retweeted an April 1, 2018 tweet by fellow INN co-founder, Max Berger, that said: “If you’re an American Jew who’s upset about how our community responds to Israeli’s violent repression of Palestinians protest, consider joining @IfNotNowOrg.”

Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] the March of Return protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of Israel’s border fence, some by armed Palestinians. One Hamas leader declared [00:00:30]: “We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies.”

Romanow retweeted an October 13, 2015 tweet during the Knife Intifada, promoting an article interviewing Marwan Barghouti. In the article, Barghouti commended the Knife Intifada and blamed the Israeli occupation as the root cause of the violence.

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

Marwan Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second intifada.

Barghouti led the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.

IfNotNow (INN)

IfNotNow (INN) is an anti-Israel organization founded in 2014, in response to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas.

INN claims to be “young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions” to OPE. INN presents three demands on its website: “Stop the War on Gaza, End the Occupation, and Freedom and Dignity for All.”

INN defines “the Occupation as the military rule over Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,” which is land Israel has controlled for nearly 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War. However, INN leaders have made [00:34:32] the claim [00:13:49] at protests that the occupation is 70 years long, referring to Israel’s founding in 1948.

INN actions have aimed to demonize [00:38:13] Israel, harass [00:05:44] mainstream American Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and decrease support for Israel among American Jews.

INN has used “public action and imaginative ritual” to achieve its goals, including disruptions where activists were arrested.

One of the high-profile arrests occurred at a May 2018 disruption at a U.S. Senator’s office in Washington, D.C. to protest legislation against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

At the same incident, INN used [00:07:17] the Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer to mourn [00:09:10] protesters who were killed during the Hamas-organized and funded Great March of Return riots on the Israel-Gaza border.

INN activists have also staged and promoted walk-offs from Birthright Israel trips, a heritage trip to Israel for young Jewish adults from across the world.

INN claims to take no position on the BDS movement and that it is “open to any who seek to shift the American Jewish public away from the status quo that upholds the Occupation.” However, INN organizes with pro-BDS, anti-Israel organizations including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).