New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who axed several of his predecessor’s pro-Israel executive orders on day one of the job, drew widespread criticism for his lack of response to pro-Hamas chants at a protest outside a Queens synagogue on Thursday night.
Long after the New York governor and others commented, Mamdani, who long declined to say that “globalize the intifada” calls for violence against Jews, had yet to comment on the incident.
By the time Shabbat had started, the mayor still had yet to issue a public comment.
“As New York Orthodox Jews shut off our phones for Shabbos, still no official statement from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on blatantly antisemitic protest in the Jewish community of Kew Gardens Hills,” stated Sam Berger, a member of the state Assembly.
Berger noted that the state governor and attorney general, members of Congress, and the city comptroller and city council speaker all issued statements. “Hard to call that standing ‘steadfast with our Jewish neighbors,’” he said of the mayor.
Mamdani later told Politico that “that language is wrong” and that “I think that language has no place in New York City.”
“The mayor’s clipped condemnation of the Thursday protest chants comes as local and national lawmakers supportive of Israel gave full-throated condemnations of protestors’ support for Hamas,” the publication reported. “Mamdani’s relative silence on the demonstration prompted pro-Israel activists to question why the mayor hadn’t publicly released a statement about the pro-Hamas rhetoric.”
Earlier in the day, Mamdani joined Ms. Rachel, who makes films for children and whose real name is Rachel Griffin-Accurso, in a meeting with preschoolers in the city’s second district.
Ms. Rachel has posted criticism of Israel often on Instagram, including accusing the Jewish state of “genocide.”
“I am vice president of the District 2 Community Education Council, and I can guarantee you that the majority of parents and families in our district don’t want you to invite and welcome antisemitic celebrities into our schools,” Danyela Souza Egorov wrote, in response to Mamdani.
“What melody did you pick for ‘destroy Israel, kill the Jews?’” wrote David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
