Is there a memo circulating around the office that tells reporters only to refer to Zohran Mamdani as a critic of Israel rather than the supporter of a hate movement that seeks the destruction of a country housing half the world’s Jewish population?
The New York Times has consistently and disingenuously referred to vehemently anti-Israel Zohran Mamdani as a “sharp critic of Israel.” At times Mamdani is instead a “staunch critic of Israel,” an “outspoken critic of Israel,” a “socialist critic of Israel,” or a “longtime critic of Israel.” There are also references to the new mayor of New York City having “sharp criticism of Israel,” like in Nicholas Fandos’ Feb. 11, 2026, ‘Hot Girls for Zohran’ Co-Founder Floated Conspiracy Theories About Israel.
Most other “sharp critics” The Times describes are critical of things like spending, leaders and/or policies, industries and governments. Except for a singular reference in 1997 to Nancy Pelosi being a “sharp critic of China,” The Times does not describe any American politician – other than Mamdani – as a “sharp critic” of a whole country, including North Korea, Russia, China, Qatar, Iran or Nigeria. Perhaps this is because there is no such thing.
Calling Mamdani a sharp critic of Israel is almost like calling Vladimir Putin a sharp critic of Ukraine.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is part of the anti-Zionist hate movement and supports the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (“BDS”) Movement. Anti-Zionism is generally defined as opposition to Jewish people having self-determination in their ancestral homeland of Israel. Given that Jews have been killed or were forced to flee from almost every place they’ve lived since being exiled from ancient Israel, denying them self-determination in their indigenous homeland and the ability to defend themselves is a tacit death wish for half of the world’s Jewish population – more than seven million Jews. Those who argue for the destruction of the Jewish State endanger the lives of Jewish Israelis given the violent, Jew-hating terror organizations that surround them.
The New York Times is blue-and-whitewashing Mamdani’s hatred of Jews, and gaslighting readers, by mislabeling it as sharp critique of Israel.
The BDS Movement, as CAMERA has previously detailed, is an effort to end the Jewish State through boycott, divestment and sanctions.
BDS advances many lies, among them that all of Israel is a “settler colony on the Palestinian indigenous homeland.” One can acknowledge that Arabs lived in the area for a long time without denying the historical fact of Jewish indigeneity to the land of Israel (Jews come from Judea), but BDS refuses to do this. Instead, in an effort to end the Jewish State, the BDS movement takes a multi-pronged approach of advocating for military embargoes and divestment by pension funds and universities, banning Israeli imports, boycotting Israeli companies, and severing ties with Israeli academics and institutions. BDS is not attempting to change some kind of behavior on the part of Israel’s government or change its laws – it wants to eliminate the Jewish State completely.
If Mamdani believed in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state but criticized – no matter how heavily – the Israeli government, Israeli policies, Israeli laws, Israeli society – then The Times could credibly – albeit generously – label him a sharp critic. But someone who wants to do away with Jewish self-determination and firmly opposes Israel as a Jewish State is an individual ignoring the real possibility of death for millions of Jews.
The Times willfully ignores the fact that Mayor Mamdani was widely condemned by Jewish organizations when, on his first day in office, he revoked two prior executive orders (1) adopting the widely used IHRA definition of antisemitism and (2) protecting against the discriminatory BDS Movement.
Over 1,000 rabbis warned of the anti-Zionism Mamdani espouses. In addition, the genocide libel he has propagated has been rejected by over 500 scholars. The Times insults millions of Jews when it routinely ignores what the Mayor says and supports, as well as his inability to condemn chants to ‘globalize the intifada,’ – all of which squarely fall into the category of Jew-hatred and threaten Jewish safety.
In addition to Mamdani’s own words and deeds, it is said that “a man is known by the company he keeps.” At least 20 percent of the mayor’s administrative appointees, according to the Anti-Defamation League, are connected to anti-Zionist activist groups. In addition to other low-level staffers, Mamdani’s company includes anti-Israel Chief of Staff Elle Bisgaard-Church, Brooklyn borough director Alvaro Lopez, who labeled “heroes” those who ripped down Israeli hostage posters soon after Oct. 7, 2023, and others who justified Hamas.
Mamdani recently replaced the head of New York City’s Office to Combat Antisemitism with Phylisa Wisdom, who shares Mamdani’s opposition to the IHRA definition and who a prominent New York rabbi described as antisemitic. And who could forget that Mamdani’s choice for director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, had to resign nearly immediately after her old “money-hungry Jews” comment surfaced?
The people Mamdani selected to help run the city, in addition to his own personal views about wanting Israel destroyed, make New York City physically dangerous for Jews. This is not hypothetical either. The NYPD reported a staggering 182% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes in January 2026 – Mamdani’s first month in office – over January 2025. It suggests – if not signals – that it’s okay for antisemites to show their hatred.
When The Times reduces an ideological campaign against the existence of the State of Israel to simple “criticism,” it does not inform readers – it sanitizes the stakes. There is a material difference between dissent and dismantlement, especially when it comes to describing Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose actions and hires seem designed to hurt Jewish people in New York and around the world.
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