Noah Wagner
Overview
Noah Wagner is an activist with IfNotNow (INN) who was arrested twice as part of protests with INN.Wagner also walked-off a Birthright Jewish Heritage tour and opposed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA), a bipartisan bill, drafted in response to growing anti-Semitism in the United States.
Wagner also opposed the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and attended events that repurposed Jewish rituals.
In July 2018, Wagner was described as a “recent college grad” currently living in Boston, who “helped bring IfNotNow to Harvard’s campus.”
As of June 2019, Wagner’s LinkedIn page said that Wagner was a student at Harvard University (Harvard) and earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies in 2018.
In 2018, Wagner used the name Noah Riley on Facebook and as of June 2019, Wagner used the name Noah Wagner on Facebook.
Arrests
On April 5, 2019, Wagner was arrested at a protest with INN against Taglit-Birthright in New York City. The event was called: “Birthright: It's Time to Choose - Us or the Donors?” The event’s Facebook description said that “hundreds” of young Jews “will converge on Birthright’s headquarters to give them one final chance to choose between the demands of INN members and their current policy.”
INN activists stood and chanted outside of Birthright headquarters, then linked arms, blocked entrances to the building and finally formed a human chain across the street, blocking midtown traffic. Fifteen activists were arrested for refusing to move.
Wagner said about the arrest on Facebook: “We stood outside of Birthright’s headquarters and demanded they confront the crisis of the Occupation. Instead, they chose to have me and my peers with IfNotNow arrested.”
On April 3, 2018, Wagner was one of the eight INN activists who were arrested after they chained themselves to the doors of the Israeli Consulate of New England, to protest “violence on Gaza.”
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 march was organized and funded by Hamas as a campaign of violent protests to spotlight the Palestinian demand to “return” to Israel. The “right of return” has since been discredited as a means to eliminate Israel.
The protesters read [00:16:132] the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer for Palestinians killed in Gaza and demanded that Consul General Yehuda Yaakov “condemn Israeli violence.”
The Jewish ritual of the Mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer customarily reserved for close relatives or Jews murdered for being Jews.
INN stated that the demonstrators called for “an end to Israeli violence against Palestinian protesters in Gaza” and that Palestinian protesters “were met with live fire by Israeli snipers.”
Wagner co-wrote a piece about the protest and subsequent arrest for The Forward. The article stated: “Israel has gone down a dark and violent path; that it is, in many ways, making a mockery of the humanitarian aims on which it was ostensibly founded.”
The piece said that: “As young Jews, we are taught...to witness barbarity from the Israeli government and be silent” and “We were outraged and saddened by the killing of nine Palestinian civilians last Friday. These people did not pose a threat to the Israeli snipers who shot at them.”
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.
The authors concluded: “We’re downstairs, in the lobby or at the front door, ready to talk. And we’re not moving until we have this conversation.”
In a May 16, 2018 Facebook post, INN Bay Area said members outside the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation recited the Mourner's Kaddish and read “the names of the Palestinian protesters killed by the IDF.”
INN said the Federation called the police, “rather than join their community in mourning the victims of violence and Occupation.”
INN posted a photo of the activists, including Wagner, on Instagram and wrote: “Birthright wouldn’t show the reality and complexity of the Occupation, so earlier today 8 young Jews walked off 2 trips to go find the truth for themselves.” The activists claimed(00:00:01) Birthright trips were “like visiting the South in the 1950s and not talking about Jim Crow segregation.”
Hallie Berkson-Gold, a fellow INN activist, videotaped the walkout and posted it live on Facebook. According to INN, Facebook removed the video: “bowing down to the right-wing Israel lobby.” Facebook later unblocked the video.
Following their walk-off, the activists set up a GoFundMe campaign to recoup their costs of walking off their trip, including deposits and return plane ticket fees.
Wagner and fellow INN activists gave an interview to the Forward on July 23, 2018 about the walk-off. Wagner said [00:31:04] that in response to “Birthright’s pro-Occupation agenda,” others who go on Birthright “should consider walking-off too.”
On July 24, 2018, Wagner published an op-ed for Dig Boston titled: “Why I Walked Off a Birthright Trip,” in which Wagner said that “Birthright won’t show us the occupation and take a stand against this violent system because Birthright is literally invested in maintaining the status quo.”
On July 30, 2018, Wagner was interviewed about the walkoff on “The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow.” Eskow is a progressive political pundit who writes for anti-Israel publications including the Intercept and Alternet. The interview was titled: “Noah Wagner: A Birthright Protester for Human Rights.”
Eskow and Wagner agreed [00:05:45] on Birthright’s political “dimension,” with Wagner adding that [00:06:58] “Birthright’s funders have a pro-Occupation agenda.”
In the interview, Wagner said [00:07:48] that the chosen day of the walk-off was chosen because the group was going to the City of David and that entrance fees, including from Wagner, would help displace Palestinian families.
In August 2018, Wagner was also featured in a video produced by “Now This” and shared by INN on Instagram, called: “Why Young Jews Are Walking Off Birthright Tours.” In the video, Wagner was identified [00:00:01] as “a grandchild of Holocaust survivors.”
Wagner said [00:00:58] Israel was “a violent system that goes against so many of our Jewish values” and later blamed [00:03:32] Birthright for “upholding that violent system.”
Wagner also said [00:01:17] that “This spring, I saw all the violence happening in Gaza, when the Israeli army killed more than 100 Palestinian protesters.”
Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] the March of Return protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of Israel’s border fence, some by armed Palestinians. On May 15, 2018, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said that the Gaza protests were under a pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
On April 26, 2019, Wagner posted on Facebook about INN’s latest campaign to shut down Birthright called #BreakUpWithBirthright: “I signed the pledge to #BreakUpWithBirthright because a trip designed to whitewash a violent military occupation shouldn't be considered a rite of passage for young American Jews.”
Wagner concluded: “Whether you've been on Birthright or not -- pledge not to go on, donate to, or recommend Birthright.“
The AAA directed the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to use the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating hostile environment complaints.
JVP’s petition asserted that anti-Semitism did not warrant its own bill, but should rather be considered equal to other forms of bigotry. The petition also purported that “real anti-Semitism” came from the “white supremacist movements in this country” and contended the bill did “little to protect us, as Jewish students, from these dangers.”
The petition also claimed that BDS was “not inherently anti semitic,” and called the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism “problematic.”
During the demonstration INN protestors chanted [01:32:00] “We are horrified by Israel’s violent response to Palestinian non-violent protests.”
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook to an event on December 6, 2017, called: “EMERGENCY RALLY: Jews Say No to Trump Embassy in Jerusalem” hosted by INN Boston in front of the AIPAC office in Boston.
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.
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook to an April 13, 2018, INN Boston event called: “#HowManyMore? Mourner’s Kaddish for Protesters Killed in Gaza”.
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).
Twitter:https://twitter.com/NoahRWagner?lang=en [Deleted]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-wagner-6b6200a2/
NowThis News.com:https://nowthisnews.com/videos/politics/why-young-jews-are-walking-off-birthright-tours
Forward: https://forward.com/scribe/406396/what-do-ifnotnow-birthright-protestors-really-want-we-asked-them/
March participants sent scores of kites bearing explosive devices across Israel’s border to burn Israeli crops and homes. Participants also attempted to breach the border fence, which caused the Israeli Defense Forces to respond with live fire. Agitators also threw Molotov cocktails and firebombs, shot firearms and threw rocks.
Wagner co-wrote a piece about the protest and subsequent arrest for The Forward. The article stated: “Israel has gone down a dark and violent path; that it is, in many ways, making a mockery of the humanitarian aims on which it was ostensibly founded.”
The piece said that: “As young Jews, we are taught...to witness barbarity from the Israeli government and be silent” and “We were outraged and saddened by the killing of nine Palestinian civilians last Friday. These people did not pose a threat to the Israeli snipers who shot at them.”
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.
The authors concluded: “We’re downstairs, in the lobby or at the front door, ready to talk. And we’re not moving until we have this conversation.”
Supporting Violent Protesters
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook a May 14, 2018 to an INN event, in support of Palestinians killed during the Great March of Return.
In a May 16, 2018 Facebook post, INN Bay Area said members outside the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation recited the Mourner's Kaddish and read “the names of the Palestinian protesters killed by the IDF.”
INN said the Federation called the police, “rather than join their community in mourning the victims of violence and Occupation.”
Walking Off Birthright
On July 15, 2018, Wagner was one of several participants who joined and then staged a walk-out in protest from a Birthright tour of Israel.INN posted a photo of the activists, including Wagner, on Instagram and wrote: “Birthright wouldn’t show the reality and complexity of the Occupation, so earlier today 8 young Jews walked off 2 trips to go find the truth for themselves.” The activists claimed(00:00:01) Birthright trips were “like visiting the South in the 1950s and not talking about Jim Crow segregation.”
Hallie Berkson-Gold, a fellow INN activist, videotaped the walkout and posted it live on Facebook. According to INN, Facebook removed the video: “bowing down to the right-wing Israel lobby.” Facebook later unblocked the video.
Following their walk-off, the activists set up a GoFundMe campaign to recoup their costs of walking off their trip, including deposits and return plane ticket fees.
Wagner and fellow INN activists gave an interview to the Forward on July 23, 2018 about the walk-off. Wagner said [00:31:04] that in response to “Birthright’s pro-Occupation agenda,” others who go on Birthright “should consider walking-off too.”
On July 24, 2018, Wagner published an op-ed for Dig Boston titled: “Why I Walked Off a Birthright Trip,” in which Wagner said that “Birthright won’t show us the occupation and take a stand against this violent system because Birthright is literally invested in maintaining the status quo.”
On July 30, 2018, Wagner was interviewed about the walkoff on “The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow.” Eskow is a progressive political pundit who writes for anti-Israel publications including the Intercept and Alternet. The interview was titled: “Noah Wagner: A Birthright Protester for Human Rights.”
Eskow and Wagner agreed [00:05:45] on Birthright’s political “dimension,” with Wagner adding that [00:06:58] “Birthright’s funders have a pro-Occupation agenda.”
In the interview, Wagner said [00:07:48] that the chosen day of the walk-off was chosen because the group was going to the City of David and that entrance fees, including from Wagner, would help displace Palestinian families.
In August 2018, Wagner was also featured in a video produced by “Now This” and shared by INN on Instagram, called: “Why Young Jews Are Walking Off Birthright Tours.” In the video, Wagner was identified [00:00:01] as “a grandchild of Holocaust survivors.”
Wagner said [00:00:58] Israel was “a violent system that goes against so many of our Jewish values” and later blamed [00:03:32] Birthright for “upholding that violent system.”
Wagner also said [00:01:17] that “This spring, I saw all the violence happening in Gaza, when the Israeli army killed more than 100 Palestinian protesters.”
Media reports confirmed [00:00:20] the March of Return protesters’ breaches and attempted breaches of Israel’s border fence, some by armed Palestinians. On May 15, 2018, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said that the Gaza protests were under a pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
On April 26, 2019, Wagner posted on Facebook about INN’s latest campaign to shut down Birthright called #BreakUpWithBirthright: “I signed the pledge to #BreakUpWithBirthright because a trip designed to whitewash a violent military occupation shouldn't be considered a rite of passage for young American Jews.”
Wagner concluded: “Whether you've been on Birthright or not -- pledge not to go on, donate to, or recommend Birthright.“
Opposing the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
In December of 2016, Wagner signed a petition, launched by the anti-Israel organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), opposing the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA), which was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate on December 1, 2016.The AAA directed the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to use the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating hostile environment complaints.
JVP’s petition asserted that anti-Semitism did not warrant its own bill, but should rather be considered equal to other forms of bigotry. The petition also purported that “real anti-Semitism” came from the “white supremacist movements in this country” and contended the bill did “little to protect us, as Jewish students, from these dangers.”
The petition also claimed that BDS was “not inherently anti semitic,” and called the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism “problematic.”
Opposing the Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
On May 14, 2018, Wagner participated [01:41:14] in an INN DC demonstration in Washington, D.C. to mourn [01:09:33] the Palestinians killed during the Great March of Return protests on Israel’s border with Gaza.In May 2018, terror group Hamas instigated violent riots on the Israeli-Gaza border. Thousands of rioters attempted to breach Israel’s border fence, declaring their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”
During the demonstration INN protestors chanted [01:32:00] “We are horrified by Israel’s violent response to Palestinian non-violent protests.”
On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
The May 14, 2018, event also protested the U.S. government’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook to an event on December 6, 2017, called: “EMERGENCY RALLY: Jews Say No to Trump Embassy in Jerusalem” hosted by INN Boston in front of the AIPAC office in Boston.
The event’s Facebook description called the moving of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem “a tragedy” for the Jewish people and a “deliberate incitement of violence and sabotage of progress towards peace.”
Repurposing Jewish Rituals
On April 5, 2018, Wagner hosted an event called: “Liberation Seder: Four Cups of Freedom,” with the Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance.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 said on Facebook that the seder was in connection with their movement and the Facebook description of the event said it was “Inspired by IfNotNow.”
Wagner wrote about the Seder in the Forward. Referring to Hillel Internationals “Guidelines for Campus Israel Activities,” Wagner said: “we were advised by Hillel staff that reading them [“poems by prominent Palestinians”] could be construed to violate Hillel International’s standards of partnership simply because they used the term “apartheid.”
On April 2, 2018, Wagner attended an INN Boston event called: “Boston Sanctuary Seder: Resist Deportations & Violence on Gaza.”
The event’s Facebook description said: “On the first night of Passover, 17 unarmed Palestinian protesters were shot and killed by Israeli forces” and that the protest would include “Passover songs, stories, and rituals.”
Wagner wrote about the Seder in the Forward. Referring to Hillel Internationals “Guidelines for Campus Israel Activities,” Wagner said: “we were advised by Hillel staff that reading them [“poems by prominent Palestinians”] could be construed to violate Hillel International’s standards of partnership simply because they used the term “apartheid.”
On April 2, 2018, Wagner attended an INN Boston event called: “Boston Sanctuary Seder: Resist Deportations & Violence on Gaza.”
The event’s Facebook description said: “On the first night of Passover, 17 unarmed Palestinian protesters were shot and killed by Israeli forces” and that the protest would include “Passover songs, stories, and rituals.”
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook to an April 13, 2018, INN Boston event called: “#HowManyMore? Mourner’s Kaddish for Protesters Killed in Gaza”.
The event’s Facebook description claimed: “the IDF has used lethal violence to repress peaceful protest, killing 31 Palestinians and wounding over a thousand protesters.”
Wagner posed for a photo posted to Facebook by INN Boston, on February 12, 2018, from a “strategy upgrade training.”
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook to an INN Boston event on May 17, 2018, event called: “Open Meeting & Vigil: Boston Jewish Community Healing & Mourning.”
The event’s Facebook description said: “As American Jews… We mourn the unnecessary loss of life amidst this extremely powerful and inspiring moment of Palestinian resistance.”
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook an April 9-13, 2018 event called: “Israeli Apartheid Week 2018,” hosted by Harvard’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) affiliate, Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).
Anti-Israel Activism
Wagner posed for a photo posted to Facebook by INN activist Elias Newman, on September 25, 2018, from an INN training session.Wagner posed for a photo posted to Facebook by INN Boston, on February 12, 2018, from a “strategy upgrade training.”
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook to an INN Boston event on May 17, 2018, event called: “Open Meeting & Vigil: Boston Jewish Community Healing & Mourning.”
The event’s Facebook description said: “As American Jews… We mourn the unnecessary loss of life amidst this extremely powerful and inspiring moment of Palestinian resistance.”
Wagner indicated attendance on Facebook an April 9-13, 2018 event called: “Israeli Apartheid Week 2018,” hosted by Harvard’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) affiliate, Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is presented internationally as a “series of events that seeks to raise awareness of…Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” One of its goals is to build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW has been renamed Palestine Awareness Week.
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 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).
Social Media and Weblinks
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100010043703271Twitter:https://twitter.com/NoahRWagner?lang=en [Deleted]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-wagner-6b6200a2/
NowThis News.com:https://nowthisnews.com/videos/politics/why-young-jews-are-walking-off-birthright-tours
Forward: https://forward.com/scribe/406396/what-do-ifnotnow-birthright-protestors-really-want-we-asked-them/
- Status:
- Student
- University:
- Harvard
- Organizations:
- INN
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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