Muntasser Ikhmayes

Overview

Muntasser Ikhmayes led a violent anti-Israel mob in chanting anti-Semitic slurs in 2021. Ikhmayes led the same mob when it attacked Jewish diners at an outdoor restaurant in Manhattan.

Ikhmayes has also called for “intifada” and has led anti-Israel chants as an activist with Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an anti-Israel group in New York City, founded by Nerdeen Kiswani. Until February 2018, WOL was known as the New York branch of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), going by the name NYC SJP.

WOL’s “Points of Unity” states: “We defend the right of Palestinians as colonized people to resist the zionist occupation by any means necessary.”

In 2022, Ikhmayes graduated [p. 49] from the College of Staten Island (CSI), which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY). On June 1, 2022, he shared a photo on Instagram wearing a cap and gown, indicating he had graduated from university.

As of March 2023, Ikhmayes’s Facebook page said he lived in New York. As of the same date, publicly available online sources indicated Ikhmayes was located in Staten Island, New York.

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

May 20 - 21 2021 - Violent Counterprotest

Ikhmayes helped lead a violent counterprotest against a pro-Israel rally in Times Square on May 20, 2021. At the counterprotest, he yelled at Israel supporters, including calling them “Nazis!” Later that day, he led the same mob as they physically attacked and spat at Jewish diners in a restaurant.

During the counterprotest, anti-Israel activists stole rally-goers’ Israeli flags, forcibly moved police barricades, assaulted many of the Israel supporters and threw projectiles at the police and Israel supporters. More than two dozen were arrested and WOL offered legal support and advice to them the following day.

Leading a Violent Anti-Israel Mob

Ikhmayes told [00:15:35] the anti-Israel activists: “Do not engage! I want to f**k them up as much as you guys want to, if not even more! But we can’t do this s**t here…”

The anti-Israel activists pushed [00:01:33] and eventually breached [00:35:22] a barricade placed by the police to separate the pro-Israel rally from the counterprotest.

Ikhmayes then led [00:00:06] the mob over the barrier while leading chants of “Free Free Palestine!” The mob chanted [00:36:08] and yelled at the pro-Israel side and stole [00:35:36] Israeli flags [00:00:46] from some of the pro-Israel activists.

Ikhmayes screamed [00:37:42] through a megaphone at the Israel supporters: “My grandma’s older than your f**king state, you piece of s**t! Suck my d*ck n**ga!”

The anti-Israel activists then moved [00:37:54] back to their side of the barrier where Ikhmayes led [00:40:34] chants at the Israel supporters: “Nazis! Nazis! Nazis!”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Over 40 countries have adopted the definition as well.

Following the throwing [00:00:28] of projectiles, the police removed [00:03:03] the barrier and declared [00:03:26] that the “assembly was unlawful” and demanded the crowd disperses or face charges.

The police arrested [00:03:20] several anti-Israel activists while others fled [00:03:48] the scene.

The anti-Israel activists threw [00:14:15] garbage bags and [00:05:25] chairs into the road in an attempt to create obstacles to law enforcement personnel following [00:05:37] after them on bicycles.

Later that night, Ikhmayes led the same anti-Israel activists who went on to harass [00:00:01] and physically attack and spit [00:00:05] at Jewish diners in an outdoor restaurant in Manhattan.

Other Violent Incidents at the Counterprotest

Other anti-Israel activists that day also launched [00:00:01] two fireworks from a car at passersby in Manhattan's heavily-Jewish Diamond district, burning one person.

As police and passersby tended [00:00:34] to the injured person lying on the floor, more anti-Israel activists drove [00:00:19] by shouting from their car windows while others on the street pushed [00:00:37] people and yelled [00:00:48]: “F**k the Zionists, f**k you!”

A mob of anti-Israel activists from the counter-protest also attacked [00:00:00], beat up and reportedly yelled anti-Semitic epithets at Joseph Borgen, a Jewish man who was on his way to the pro-Israel rally in Times Square.

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. More than two dozen were arrested during the events.

WOL Support for Violent Rioters

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

The counterprotest was held the day a ceasefire was announced to end Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls (OGW) against terror groups 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.

May 18, 2021 - WOL Emergency Rally for Palestine

Ikhmayes called for an Intifada and led chants at an anti-Israel rally organized by WOL outside the Israeli Embassy in New York.

Ikhmayes 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.

Ikhmayes shared [00:00:01] footage on Tiktok from the rally of himself leading [00:00:15] chants through a megaphone. Ikhmayes was also featured in an Instagram photo with other WOL activists that day, who were setting off smoke canisters.

On the same day as the rally, a mob of anti-Israel activists from the rally physically attacked two men, one of whom held an Israeli flag.

May 15, 2021 - WOL Nakba Day Rally

Ikhmayes stood on traffic lights and trucks chanting with other anti-Israel protesters.

Ikhmayes chanted [00:00:34] “Allahu Akhbar [God is Great]!” with other anti-Israel activists while standing on top of a vehicle.

Ikhmayes also assisted [00:05:44] in making anti-Israel signs for the activists at a May 15, 2021, Nakba Day protest organized by WOL in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.

One video on Instagram showed [slide 2] Ikhmayes waving a Palestinian flag while standing on a delivery truck. Another video posted to Instagram the same day showed Ikhmayes waving [slide 2] a Palestinian flag while standing on a traffic light at 67th Street in Bay Ridge.

WOL

Within Our Lifetime (WOL) is a pro-terror activist group in New York City dedicated to Israel’s destruction within the lifetime of its members.

Acts of violence and physical confrontations with police have frequently occurred at WOL protests and marches. WOL uses harassment campaigns to target pro-Israel organizations or companies that do business with Israel, making it a part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Multiple activists who have either burned Israeli flags or led chants at WOL rallies were later jailed for violent anti-Semitic hate crimes, including Saadah Masoud and Waseem Awawdeh. In Masoud’s case, he received 18 months in jail for an anti-Semitic assault at an April 2022 WOL rally and two other anti-Semitic assaults in 2021.

WOL promotes “resistance” against Israel “by any means necessary,” calls to “Globalize the Intifada,” spreads incitement and idolizes [00:34:06] Palestinian terrorists like Leila Khaled and others at rallies and online events.

WOL was founded by Nerdeen Kiswani and Dan Cione in 2015. Kiswani is a frequent speaker at WOL rallies where she has promoted terrorism against Israelis and called for the death of Zionists. She has also provided support for Masoud and other activists following their arrests.

WOL began as the New York City chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), going by NYC SJP, but changed its name in 2018. The group is not found to be registered in any U.S. state as a nonprofit organization under its official name. Nor is there any listing for WOL under its name on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for tax-exempt organizations.