By On Friday, August 8, the NYPD arrested 27-year-old Iman Abdul, a former campaign worker of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, accusing her of making threats against Leon Goldstein High School for the Sciences in Manhattan Beach, a school in which Jewish students attend, writes The New York Post.
According to police, Abdul “made a terroristic threat through social media” the day before her arrest, posting a Google Maps screenshot of the school’s location alongside the caption: “If anyone needs a public school in NYC to attack for whatever reason… Lexus driving Israhell [sic] loving Zionisits [sic] all attend here.”
“They’ve all gone on ‘Birthright,’ it added, referring to a popular program that offers free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults.
Jewish advocacy organizations and community figures swiftly condemned the remarks. Stop Antisemitism and Jewish activist Uri Cohen shared Abdul’s photo and post on Twitter, calling for prosecution. Tova Plaut, a Department of Education pre-K staffer and outspoken advocate, called the threat “evil,” adding, “A map. A pin. A call to harm Jews, fellow New Yorkers, children, teachers. This isn’t just dangerous. It’s evil. Jew-hatred doesn’t stop with a threat. It escalates. We need immediate and unequivocal action.”
The group showed her post so you can judge for yourself:
NYC resident Iman Abdul takes to Instagram inviting people to attack a Jewish school.
This incitement against Jews, specifically minor children, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. https://t.co/iaX8CPa1ZO pic.twitter.com/WDN7O3jI75
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 7, 2025
Abdul has been charged with making a terroristic threat, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated harassment, and making a threat of mass harm. She pleaded not guilty to one count each of making a terroristic threat and making a threat of mass harm. In a direct message to the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism, Abdul doubled down on threatening the school, writing. “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… we have every right to verbally attack the school.”
Iman, who states she is from Lebanon, admits to calling for an attack on the school.
Iman also works at AM PM gallery, with minors. Voice your concerns here: ampmgalleryny@gmail.com pic.twitter.com/j5cpVDxDkb
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 7, 2025
The Post noted that Abdul had served as a youth organizer for Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 Democratic primary campaign—a claim the congresswoman’s team flatly denied. “This person was never staff on the campaign and any representation of such is false,” the campaign stated. “Their comments are appalling and we condemn threats of violence without hesitation.”
The Post reported that State Sen. Julia Salazar confirmed Abdul worked as a paid canvasser for her campaign during the same period.
“Abdul worked on the Democratic primary campaigns of socialist pols AOC and state Sen. Julia Salazar in the summer of 2018. She was a paid canvasser for Salazar, the lawmaker told The Post.
She also described herself in a 2019 interview as a student at City College of NY, majoring in childhood education, sociology and Latino studies; and a director at IntegrateNYC, a youth–led group advocating for ‘desegregation’ of city schools.”
Abdul’s Instagram account has since been deactivated, but screenshots of her alleged posts continue circulating online, intensifying calls for legal action and raising broader concerns about targeted antisemitic threats in New York City.
The threats come on the heels of rising violence against Jews by leftwing, pro-Palestine radicals. In May, an evening reception at the Capital Jewish Museum ended in tragedy when a gunman opened fire outside the venue, killing two staff members of the Embassy of Israel as they left a diplomatic gathering.
The shooting took place during the museum’s “Young Diplomats Reception,” hosted by the American Jewish Committee to build connections between Jewish young professionals and members of the diplomatic corps. The victims—Yaron Lischinsky, a German-Israeli national, and Sarah Milgrim, an American Jew—were a young couple who had attended the event together.
Authorities identified the suspect as Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago. Witnesses said Rodriguez was subdued by event security within moments, shouting “Free, free Palestine!” as he was restrained. One attendee recalled Rodriguez producing a keffiyeh and declaring, “I did it. I did it for Gaza. Free free Palestine.”
The shooter was linked to several leftwing groups.
Even Democratic politicians have seemed to switch sides, supporting Hamas. Just this week, for example, Senator Bernie Sanders, AOC’s mentor, refused to cast any blame on Hamas for the ongoing war in Gaza and the ramifications of the terrorist group’s attack against Israeli citizens in 2023.
Q: "Would you say Hamas has some culpability in people starving?"
BERNIE: "No."
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 11, 2025
In July, a majority of Democrats voted against an arms sale to Israel to help the American ally in its war against Hamas.
[Read More: Dems Just Being Laughed At Now]
