A Jewish journalist and judge for the Miss Universe pageant is speaking out about the death threats she’s received after debating anti-Israel activist Nerdeen Kiswani on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
“Initially they were very harsh antisemitic remarks like, ‘Go back to Auschwitz, gas prices dropped today,'” Emily Austin told Fox News Digital. “Really stupid, stupid DMs [direct messages on social media], but then at some point they escalated to, ‘Watch your back. I’m going to get you,’ ‘A blonde Jew would be really expensive in Gaza. I’ll become rich when I find you,’ or ‘I’ll put a bullet through your head’ or ‘Tomorrow I’m going to kill you.'”
“Really specific death threats,” she said.
(Video: Fox News Digital)
The frightening threats followed Austin’s confrontation with Kiswani on October 24.
“According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Kiswani is the leader of Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine (WOL), a radical New York-based group that routinely expresses support for violence against Israel,” Fox News Digital reports. “She has called for ‘Zionists’ to be vilified and expelled from community spaces and has advocated for the dissolution of Israel.”
Kiswani stepped into the national spotlight in May 2022 after she delivered the commencement speech for CUNY Law in which she slammed “Zionists” and “normalizing” trips to Israel.
Austin, on the other hand, “engages in activism related to Israel,” according to Fox News Digital.
The two went toe-to-toe on Morgan’s show after Kiswani threw shade on intel showing that it was a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch that landed on Gaza’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, not an Israeli weapon.
(Video: YouTube)
Kiswani called Austin a “genocide denier,” and wondered why Morgan wasn’t the one asking the questions as Austin grilled the radical on her condemnation — or lack thereof — of the 9/11 attacks on American soil.
The threats, Austin told Fox News Digital, started with Kiswani, who posted on Instagram a photo of Austin with a red triangle over her head.
“I really tried to keep it fact-based, unemotional, like, this is what this is. She was yelling,” Austin said. “She was talking over me, threatening me on Instagram with, like, a red arrow over my head, telling people how funny it was to put a bounty on my head.”
“That’s not so funny,” Austin noted.
The threats she received left little to the imagination.
“I’ll kill you f—ing wh–e,” one vowed. “I will hunt you down like we did to Israeli people.”
She was called names such as “stupid Jewish b—h” and “f—ing lying piece of s—t.”
“Another account posted multiple pictures of Austin with messages that read ‘Watch your back’ and ‘I’m gonna get you,'” Fox News Digital reports.
Even Austin’s mother was targeted via a string of disturbing text messages.
“People are now violating my privacy, searching for my house address online and posting it or telling me I’m going to dox you if you don’t do X, Y, Z,” Austin said. “And it’s like I don’t succumb to fear, that that’s not who I am. Like, you can threaten me all you want.”
Finally, Austin contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after council members and members of Congress sent her concerned messages.
“They’re investigating every single DM, every single post,” Austin said. “And I’m really thankful they’re so hands-on and one phone call away 24/7.”
The journalist has also hired private security.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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