A woman was arrested on Friday in Brooklyn, New York for allegedly threatening a public high school over the “Zionist” students that attend it.
Iman Abdul, 27, was arrested by police Friday on charges of making a terroristic threat, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated harassment and making a threat of mass harm, according to a New York Police Department spokesperson.
The charges stemmed from an alleged post on Instagram by Abdul on Thursday in which she made a “terroristic threat” against the Leon Goldstein High School for the Sciences, located in Manhattan Beach, according to police.
“If anyone needs a public school in NYC to attack for whatever reason,” wrote Abdul alongside a screenshot of the school on Google Maps. “Lexus driving Israhell loving Zionisits all attend here. They’ve all gone on ‘Birthright.’”
The use of maps by pro-Palestinian groups to mark groups and establishments in the United States that support Israel has gained traction, and condemnation, in recent years. In November 2023, the hardline anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime posted a map of Jewish organizations in New York City with the caption “KNOW YOUR ENEMY.” A similar map of Boston-area Jewish organizations drew calls for a federal investigation in 2022.
Screenshots of Abdul’s post were shared online by pro-Israel watchdogs, including the group Stop Antisemitism, which wrote, “This incitement against Jews, specifically minor children, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The posts were picked up by conservative media outlets, which tied Abdul’s posts to progressive lawmakers in New York City. The New York Post reported that Abdul worked on the Democratic primary campaigns for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and state Sen. Julia Salazar in 2018.
Ocasio-Cortez’ campaign office denied that Abdul was ever a staffer in a statement to Fox News.” This person was never staff on the campaign and any representation of such is false,” the campaign said in a statement. “Their comments are appalling and we condemn threats of violence without hesitation.”
StopAntisemitism and other watchdogs subsequently posted a screenshot of a message allegedly sent by Abdul in which she defended her post, writing that she had “every right to verbally attack the school… especially regarding our previous experiences as brown/black people in that horrific space.” It was not clear whether Abdul attended Leon M. Goldstein herself.
“For clarification since I sense you’re confused — I never called for an attack on the school in the sense of mass organization or not even individual people attacking individuals, that’s literally stupid, I called for an attack on the school, the Zionist institution funded by our public dollars in which by design most Zionist students attend,” the message read. Abdul’s social media accounts had been made inaccessible by Monday morning.
Leon M. Goldstein is a high school located on the campus of Kingsborough Community College in a part of Brooklyn with a significant Jewish population, including families with ties to nearby hubs of Sephardic and Russian-speaking immigrants. The school has an Israel club operated in conjunction with the Kings Bay Y, a local JCC, but as a public school enrolls students of a wide array of backgrounds and takes no stance on Israel.
Abdul was arraigned Saturday morning and pleaded not guilty to one count of making a terroristic threat and one count of making a threat of mass harm, according to court records. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 19.
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