Pro-Hamas Activist Provokes Outrage — by Insisting Dogs Should Be Homeless

An anti-Zionist activist known for inflammatory rhetoric about Israel is facing her fiercest backlash yet — over a comment about dogs.Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of the hardline anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime, ignited a firestorm Thursday after weighing in on New Yorkers’ frustrations over dog waste discoloring frozen snow on sidewalks.“Finally, NYC is coming to Islam,” she wrote on X. “Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean.” Islamic scholars have historically discouraged keeping dogs as pets in the home, viewing them as impure.The comment landed poorly in New York City, where dogs outnumber children and one in seven households owns at least one four-legged friend. On X, the post was “ratioed” — meaning that it racked up far more comments than likes, signaling widespread disagreement.“Just some friendly advice here, you really don’t want to ask Americans to choose between dogs and immigration from the muslim world,” wrote an entrepreneur and conservative commentator, Mike Solana. The founding editor of National Review Online, Jonah Jacob Goldberg, condemned Ms. Kiswani for suggesting, “in other words,” that “NYC can have dogs, so long as they are thrown out into the cold and live on the street.” “You’ll pry my dog from my cold, dead hands,” quipped the Washington correspondent for the Alegemeiner, Corey Walker. Ms. Kiswani dismissed the outrage, calling her critics “Zionists frothing at the mouth at this, thinking they’re doing something.” She claimed her initial statement was “obviously a joke.”Within Our Lifetime has been behind some of the most virulent anti-Israel protests on city streets and college campuses, with many featuring explicit support for violence against Israeli civilians. In June 2024, the group co-organized a protest outside an exhibit commemorating victims of the Nova Festival massacre, where Hamas and Hezbollah flags were spotted.In 2020, a Jewish advocacy group selected Ms. Kiswani as “Antisemite of the Year,” citing her role in staging pro-Hamas protests across New York City.The irony of the dog-gate outrage was noted by the editor at large of Tablet Magazine, Liel Leibovitz. “You may not care that she hates Jews. You may not care that she hates America. But you can know everything you need to know about a person who hates dogs,” he wrote.

Pro-Hamas Activist Provokes Outrage — by Insisting Dogs Should Be Homeless

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