New York State Assembly member Zorhran Mamdani poses with supporters after his first rally at a nightclub in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s \u201cdeclaration of war\u201d will \u201cundoubtedly lead to more violence and suffering\u2026The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, Mamdani has consistently referred to Israel\u2019s retaliatory actions in Gaza as a \u201cgenocide\u201d \u2014 a word he had used to describe previous Israeli military conflicts, long before Oct. 7. (More on that below.) He has also said that the United States, through its support of Israel, is \u201csubsidizing a genocide.\u201d Israel denies it is carrying out a genocide.<\/p>\n
At a rally in Times Square on Oct. 8, 2023, some local members of the Democratic Socialists of America \u2014 of which Mamdani is a member \u2014 celebrated Hamas, who killed close to 1,200 Israelis and abducted hundreds more on Oct. 7. Mamdani condemned the rally on Oct. 10, telling Politico: \u201cMy support for Palestinian liberation should never be confused for a celebration of the loss of civilian life. I condemn the killing of civilians and rhetoric at a rally seeking to make light of such deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attacks on Jews in Washington, D.C. and Colorado<\/strong><\/p>\nMamdani also condemned the shooting outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in May that killed two staffers working at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts are with the victims and their families\u2014as well as all those who must contend with the appalling rise in antisemitic violence,\u201d he wrote in a statement on X.<\/p>\n
He also condemned the firebombing of an event in Boulder for Israeli hostages, and he again commented on it on Monday, after the death of a woman injured in the incident \u2014 including in his statement a phrase often used by Jews after the death of a loved one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am heartbroken by the news from Colorado where Karen Diamond, a victim of the vicious attack earlier this month, has passed away,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cMay Karen\u2019s memory be a blessing and a reminder that we must constantly work to eradicate hatred and violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tackling antisemitism<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the campaign trail, Mamdani has stated that he wants to work to combat hate crimes across New York City, including those on Jews.<\/p>\n
Just before the primary, he appeared on \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d alongside Brad Lander, a Jewish progressive who finished third in the ranked-choice primary; the two had cross-endorsed each other in the race. In the appearance, Mamdani claimed that the city is experiencing a \u201ccrisis of antisemitism\u201d and said that he would like to create a Department of Community Safety that would focus on anti-hate programming.<\/p>\n
\u201cAntisemitism is not simply something that we should talk about \u2014 it\u2019s something that we have to tackle,\u201d he said on the show. \u201cWe have to make clear there\u2019s no room for it in this city, in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the UJA-Federation town hall, Mamdani also said that he would be \u201cproud\u201d to appoint a senior adviser to tackle antisemitism in New York.<\/p>\n
The phrase \u201cGlobalize the intifada\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nMamdani has in multiple interviews declined to condemn the term \u201cglobalize the intifada,\u201d a phrase used by many in the pro-Palestinian movement on college campuses and beyond. The word \u201cintifada\u201d directly translates to \u201cshaking off,\u201d but most Jews associate it with two violent Palestinian uprisings, which led to several terrorist attacks across Israel from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.<\/p>\n
When asked about the phrase earlier this month, Mamdani said \u201cthe role of the mayor is not to police language.\u201d New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand strongly rebuked Mamdani on the topic. (Notably, Jewish pro-Israel politicians such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jerry Nadler have both praised Mamdani since his primary win.)<\/p>\n
On Sunday, he clarified that the term is \u201cnot language that I use,\u201d but still declined to disavow it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights,\u201d Mamdani said on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani used similar language in an interview with The Bulwark posted on June 17. That led Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, to write in a post on X, \u201cGlobalize the Intifada is an explicit call for violence. Globalize the Intifada celebrates and glorifies savagery and terror.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Holocaust <\/strong><\/p>\nWhile Mamdani has commemorated the Holocaust on social media, he took heat for declining to sign onto a resolution memorializing the genocide in the state assembly in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe absolutely supports the Holocaust Memorial Day resolution,\u201d campaign spokesperson Andrew Epstein said at the time. \u201cHe had to narrow down the capacity\u201d during a busy campaign season, Epstein added.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said in the UJA-Federation town hall that would like to see more Holocaust education in New York City schools.<\/p>\n
Hasan Piker interview<\/strong><\/p>\nIn April, Mamdani sat for a three-hour interview with popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly called Orthodox Jews \u201cinbred,\u201d compared Israelis to the Ku Klux Klan, and defended Hamas\u2019 attack on the Nova music festival, in which the Palestinian militants killed hundreds of Israelis and committed widespread sexual assault. On one of his shows, Piker told off a listener who condemned the massacre, saying \u201cBloodthirsty violent pig dog, suck my d***.\u201d<\/p>\n
A number of progressive politicians, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California, have also appeared with Piker. When asked about Piker, Mamdani said, \u201cI am willing to speak to each and every person about this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uncivilized.media interview<\/strong><\/p>\nThis week, a video of Mamdani speaking in Queens in 2023 went viral, thanks in part to Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, who criticized Mamdani for eating food with his hands in the video. \u201cIf you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World,\u201d Gill wrote on X on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Similar videos attacking Mamdani led one Jewish group, the Nexus Project, to object that many of Mamdani\u2019s critics are \u201ctrafficking in Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia, and distorting our broader political discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the video, Mamdani sheds more light on his views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The son of two India-born parents \u2014 filmmaker Mira Nair and and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani \u2014 the candidate spent his early years in Uganda and South Africa before migrating to the U.S. at the age of 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecifically growing up in South Africa post-apartheid, it felt as if one of the most natural things to wear around my body was a keffiyeh,\u201d he says, referencing the scarf that Palestinians have long worn and which has since become a symbol of resistance to Israel.<\/p>\n
In the interview, Mamdani calls discussing Palestinian issues \u201centirely taboo\u201d in U.S. politics and criticizes PEPs \u2014 politicians who he says are \u201cprogressive except for Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also says that he believes the U.S. has put Palestinian lives \u201cin jeopardy\u201d for \u201cdecades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cAs mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu,\u201d Mamdani said to former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan in December. \u201cThis is a city that our values are in line with international law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, he said the same thing at B\u2019nai Jeshurun, a large synagogue in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy answer is the same whether we are speaking about Vladimir Putin or Netanyahu,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that this should be a city that is in compliance with international law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu \u2014 along with former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif \u2014 in November, accusing him of war crimes. Given that the United States is not a party to the ICC, it would be highly unlikely that the mayor of New York would be able to arrest Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
The Holy Land Five<\/p>\n
Before his political career, Mamdani released rap songs under the monikers Young Cardamom and, later, Mr. Cardamom.<\/p>\n
In one 2017 song, \u201cSalam,\u201d he praised the \u201cHoly Land Five\u201d \u2014 the heads of a former Islamic charity organization founded in the U.S. who were convicted of aiding Hamas. In 2001, the U.S. government designated the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development a terrorist organization and seized its assets; some have argued that the trial was based on \u201chearsay\u201d evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy love to the Holy Land Five. You better look \u2019em up,\u201d Mamdani raps in the track.<\/p>\n
The \u201cNot On Our Dime!\u201d act<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Holy Land Five story concerned foreign funding of players in the Middle East conflict. Mamdani may have drawn a lesson from the case: He is the lead sponsor of the \u201cNot On Our Dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act,\u201d which he proposed in the New York State Assembly in May 2023. Its stated goal is to \u201cprohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sixty-six lawmakers, a majority of the Democratic state caucus, signed onto a letter condemning the proposal. \u201cIts purpose is to attack Jewish organizations that have wide ranging missions from feeding the poor to providing emergency medical care for victims of terrorism to clothing orphans,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n
As Politico reported, Mamdani highlighted the act in campaign pamphlets during the primary campaign.<\/p>\n
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