{"id":197515,"date":"2025-10-08T12:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/197515\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:41:09","slug":"mamdani-attends-israelis-for-peace-vigil-after-his-7-october-statement-draws-ire-from-israel-zohran-mamdani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/197515\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani attends Israelis for Peace vigil after his 7 October statement draws ire from Israel | Zohran Mamdani"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate, on Tuesday evening attended a vigil in Manhattan convened by Israelis for Peace, an anti-occupation group of Israelis in New York who have rallied weekly since 2023 to call for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.<\/p>\n

Sitting in Union Square alongside New York<\/a> City comptroller Brad Lander, his one-time rival for the Democratic nomination who has been campaigning for him, Mamdani listened as speakers at the event \u2013 which marked the two-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel \u2013 called for an end to the killing and to Israel\u2019s occupation, and for equal rights for Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Mamdani drew ire from Israel<\/a> over his statement on the anniversary in which he commemorated both the Israeli victims from that day and Palestinian victims from Israel\u2019s ensuing war on Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more. I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities,\u201d Mamdani said in the statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He denounced Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government for launching a \u201cgenocidal war\u201d in Gaza<\/a> as well. He also accused the US government of being \u201ccomplicit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA death toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble,\u201d Mamdani wrote. \u201cEvery day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language. I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the last two years had \u201cdemonstrated the very worst of humanity\u201d and called for an end to Israeli \u201coccupation and apartheid\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s statement prompted a sharp rebuke from the Israeli foreign ministry on X, accusing him of \u201cacting as a mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda\u201d and \u201cspreading Hamas\u2019s fake genocide campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy repeating Hamas\u2019s lies, he excuses terror and normalizes antisemitism. He stands with Jews only when they are dead. Shameful,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n

Israel stands widely accused of committing genocide in Gaza<\/a>, where its ongoing military assault has killed tens of thousands of civilians, some 20,000 of them children, caused famine and mass starvation<\/a>, and razed much<\/a> of the Palestinian territory. Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the international criminal court<\/a> for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Mamdani is no stranger to criticism for his views on the Israeli government and its war in Gaza, and the issue has proved a major flashpoint in the mayoral race.<\/p>\n

He has won significant support from certain segments of the Jewish community particularly among younger and more progressive voters, and faces stronger opposition from more conservative groups. A recent Marist poll<\/a> found 35% of Jewish voters supported Mamdani, as does the same proportion supporting Cuomo. (The poll was taken before Eric Adams dropped out of the race.)<\/p>\n

The democratic socialist has faced criticism over his past refusal to condemn the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d, which some view as a call to violence. He has since said he would discourage use of the phrase<\/a>. He also recently reiterated<\/a> his intention to order the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu should he travel to New York.<\/p>\n

His October 7 statement on Tuesday attracted pushback from other pro-Israel voices. David Frum, a writer at the Atlantic and former speechwriter for George W Bush, wrote on X: \u201cThe chilly formulaic language about the 10\/7 atrocity … the intense angry passion of the denunciation of Israel\u2019s self-defense … together they arrestingly reveal what the author cares about and what\/who he does not care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox News anchor David Asman called the statement \u201cobscene\u201d. He wrote on X: \u201cThe \u2018very worst of mankind\u2019 is what Mamdani supporters are on the streets today celebrating…\u2018honoring\u2019 the beasts responsible for Oct 7. He supports a \u2018global intifada,\u2019 responsible for 9\/11 and Oct 7. He should not be mayor of a city hit so hard by Jihadists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noa Yachot contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani, the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate, on Tuesday evening attended a vigil in Manhattan convened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-197515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}