Statement on Assassination Plot Against Nerdeen Kiswani

The assassination plot against Nerdeen Kiswani is a reminder of the threat that Zionist terror groups pose to our community and society as a whole. We are closely following the case in which a member of a Jewish Defense League (JDL) offshoot has been accused of planning to firebomb Kiswani’s home and flee to Israel. This is a serious and credible threat against a Palestinian American advocate, and it is the consequence of longstanding impunity for Israel and the normalization of Zionist terrorism and extremism.

This moment is not without precedent. In 1985, ADC’s West Coast Regional Director, Alex Odeh, was killed in a bombing outside his office in Santa Ana, California. That attack was linked to individuals associated with the Jewish Defense League, a group connected to numerous bombings and attempted assassinations targeting Arab American activists throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Odeh’s killers fled to Israel and have lived there without accountability since, the case remaining “unresolved” decades later. The failure to deliver justice then underscores the danger of inaction now. When perpetrators are not held accountable, it creates the conditions for violence to repeat itself.

ADC calls for a full, transparent, and immediate investigation. The Department of Justice must ensure that any and all individuals involved are identified, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law—without delay or exception.