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Israel-Based Research Institute Exposes Terror Ties of Borough Park Protest Organizers
Edited by: Fern Sidman
An in-depth investigation conducted by NGO Monitor, an Israel-based research institute, has revealed alarming connections between the group that organized a February 18th protest in Borough Park and a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. As reported by VIN News on Wednesday, the protest, which was staged against a real estate expo by The Getter Group, was orchestrated by Pal-Awda, a New York/New Jersey affiliate of Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
According to the information provided in the VIN News report, NGO Monitor has established that Al-Awda is linked to Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, an organization officially designated as a terrorist entity by the United States Treasury Department. These findings cast a troubling light on the true nature and objectives of the Borough Park protest, which was marketed as a real estate demonstration but was, in reality, rooted in extremist rhetoric and incitement against Jews.
As documented in the VIN News report, NGO Monitor has conducted extensive research on Al-Awda and its various affiliates, including Pal-Awda. The organization has been directly linked to Samidoun, which has openly praised and glorified Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)—all of which are classified as terrorist organizations by the U.S. and other Western nations.
In an alarming revelation, VIN News reported that Samidoun’s international coordinator, Charlotte Kates, who is also a board member of Al-Awda, made pro-terror statements in March 2024, saying: “There is nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, being a leader of Hamas, being a fighter in Hamas.”
According to the information contained in the VIN News report, Kates doubled down on her extremist views after being arrested as part of a hate crime investigation in Vancouver, praising the October 7th terrorist attacks—in which Hamas brutally murdered over 1,200 people in Israel—as “heroic and brave.”
The VIN News report indicated that the Borough Park protest was not a spontaneous demonstration but rather a coordinated effort by Al-Awda and its affiliates to target Jews. NGO Monitor’s research director, Yona Schiffmiller, confirmed that Al-Awda directly invoked the October 7th Hamas attacks in its promotional material for the demonstration.
According to VIN News, one of Al-Awda’s Instagram posts ahead of the protest urged supporters to “FLOOD BORO PARK” to oppose what they called a “stolen land real estate event.” This wording mirrored Hamas’ terminology, which refers to its October 7th massacre as the “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
The VIN News report further highlighted that the Borough Park protest turned violent at times, prompting NYPD officers to intervene on multiple occasions to prevent clashes between pro-Israel demonstrators and anti-Israel protesters affiliated with Al-Awda.
NGO Monitor’s findings show that Al-Awda has a long history of glorifying violence against Israel and its citizens. The VIN News report said that following the October 7th attacks, the organization issued a statement on October 8th, 2023, in which it expressed: “Unwavering support of the Palestinian resistance” and asserted that the attacks were part of a “brave path to bring the ongoing Nakba to an end.”
This statement aligns with Al-Awda’s history of endorsing violence as a legitimate means of achieving its goal of dismantling Israel. As per the VIN News report, in May 2024, Al-Awda co-signed a declaration urging demonstrators at an Orlando protest to exercise their ‘right to resist by any means necessary’—a direct call for violent action.
Furthermore, VIN News cited an April 2022 speech by Al-Awda’s New York representative, Lamis Deek, in which she classified all Palestinians as “freedom fighters” engaged in a global battle against Israel, referring to the Jewish state as a “global threat.”
In the aftermath of the Borough Park protest, Schiffmiller is calling for immediate government action to prevent pro-terror groups such as Al-Awda from organizing future demonstrations. VIN News reported that NGO Monitor is urging both local and federal authorities to investigate the group’s ties to terrorist organizations and take action against Samidoun’s broader network of affiliated 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charities that support extremist activities.
As reported by VIN News, Schiffmiller stressed the urgency of cracking down on groups that incite violence against Jews, warning that: “To prevent further antisemitic violence, NGO Monitor urges local and federal authorities to investigate Al-Awda’s connections to terrorist organizations and to take necessary action against a broader Samidoun network that includes 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charities.”
This is yet another example of how radical groups operating in the U.S. disguise themselves as human rights organizations while actively promoting terrorism and violence against Jews. The exposure of Al-Awda’s terrorist connections and its orchestration of the Borough Park protest highlights the urgent need for stricter monitoring and enforcement against extremist networks operating under the guise of political activism
