{"id":101424,"date":"2026-01-15T18:58:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/101424\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:58:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:58:59","slug":"mamdani-aoc-denounce-pro-hamas-chants-outside-queens-synagogue-with-mayor-using-terrorist-label-for-first-time-jta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/101424\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani, AOC denounce pro-Hamas chants outside Queens synagogue, with mayor using \u2018terrorist\u2019 label for first time | JTA"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City politicians, including progressives Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have widely condemned the pro-Palestinian protesters who chanted \u201cWe support Hamas here\u201d<\/a> outside a Queens synagogue last week.<\/p>\n

In Mamdani\u2019s case, his comments \u2014\u00a0which his critics said came especially late \u2014\u00a0marked the first time that he used the words \u201cterrorist organization\u201d to refer to Hamas, though he did not use the group\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said earlier today, chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city,\u201d Mamdani tweeted<\/a> late Friday. \u201cWe will continue to ensure New Yorkers\u2019 safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

In initial comments not posted to social media, Mamdani had said, \u201cThe rhetoric and displays that we saw and heard in Kew Gardens Hills last night are wrong and have no place in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other politicians had weighed in on social media sooner, including Gov. Kathy Hochul. Ocasio-Cortez, like Mamdani a critic of Israel, had denounced the protest as antisemitic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey so marching into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and leading with a chant saying \u2018we support Hamas\u2019 is a disgusting and antisemitic thing to do,\u201d she wrote on X<\/a> on Friday, the day after the protest. \u201cPretty basic!\u201d<\/p>\n

The protest was widely viewed as a test for Mamdani, a staunch critic of Israel who had alarmed some Jewish leaders with his response to a November rally<\/a> in which people seeking to attend an event about moving to Israel at a Manhattan synagogue had to pass close to demonstrators who were yelling insults at them. At the time, the mayor-elect reiterated his vow to keep all New Yorkers safe but added that \u201csacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group that organized that rally, PAL-Awda, was also behind the Thursday demonstration outside Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, which was hosting an event promoting real estate in Maale Adumim, a Jewish city in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

While Mamdani called the protesters\u2019 rhetoric \u201cwrong,\u201d the New York City mayor\u2019s initial comments drew criticism from people \u2014 including his own supporters \u2014 who saw it as weaker than what other politicians wrote. Unlike Ocasio-Cortez and Brad Lander<\/a> \u2014 Mamdani\u2019s most prominent Jewish ally \u2014 he did not call the protest antisemitic or denounce the protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a vocal & passionate support [sic] of Mamdani\u2019s,\u201d wrote Adam Carlson<\/a>, founder of polling group Zenith Research. \u201cBut I\u2019ve waited patiently all day for him to forcefully condemn Hamas \u2014 watching dozens of other city & state electeds do so \u2014 and am still waiting. This is not only hurtful to me, but it\u2019s bad politics & distracts from his agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

His second statement, posted to X, appeared to refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization, allaying concerns of some of his critics. Mamdani, a longtime pro-Palestinian advocate, had drawn criticism for seeming to resist condemning Hamas on the campaign trail, though he did denounce the group\u2019s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you!\u201d wrote Yaacov Behrman<\/a>, a Crown Heights activist who works as a PR liaison for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. \u201cThe mayor did the right thing by calling Hamas a terrorist organization and making clear that this rhetoric is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, some of Mamdani\u2019s supporters with staunchly pro-Palestinian views expressed displeasure with Mamdani\u2019s statement for criticizing only the protesters, and not the sale of land in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cftr i don\u2019t expect an elected us politician to come out as pro hamas, but its clear that many people see the pro palestinian cause as at least discardable if they\u2019re going to make a fuss about THIS instead of the kahanist flags waving zionists or the illegal synagogue land sale!!\u201d Hasan Piker, the progressive streamer and Mamdani supporter, posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of the pro-Israel counter-protesters shouted \u201cWe love ICE,\u201d a reference to the federal immigration enforcement agency that has been involved in the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian protesters, sometimes under the accusation that they are \u201cHamas sympathizers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s comments also drew criticism, including from the Palestinian writer and activist Mohammed El-Kurd, who initially shared them by saying, \u201cShut the f\u2013k up\u201d and later likened the protesters to those who had demonstrated for women\u2019s right to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtest, by definition, is supposed to ruffle feathers. It is supposed to be provocative and confrontational,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThat is how things change: you do not appease the status quo; you challenge it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a joint Instagram post<\/a>, left-wing organizations Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow and the American Council for Judaism criticized the general response to PAL-Awda\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people protest against sales of stolen Palestinian land, elected officials and far too many Jewish institutions rush to decry the demonstrations,\u201d their post read. \u201cBut this outrage obscures the real questions: Why is Palestinian land being stolen and sold? And why is it sold inside our synagogues and temples?\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Mamdani was asked at an unrelated event why he didn\u2019t condemn the land sale in his statement, and responded<\/a>, \u201cI absolutely am in opposition to the sale of land in the occupied West Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he denounced a fire at a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, as antisemitic. While a suspect has been arrested, authorities have not commented on his potential motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m horrified by this violent act of antisemitism in Jackson,\u201d Mamdani tweeted from his mayoral account. \u201cAs hatred rears its ugly head across our nation, it is incumbent upon each of us to reject it with the unity it fears, and to stand steadfast alongside our Jewish brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The post Mamdani, AOC denounce pro-Hamas chants outside Queens synagogue, with mayor using \u2018terrorist\u2019 label for first time<\/a> appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n