It\u2019s the pluck of the Irish.<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday compared the plight of the Irish to the \u201cgenocide\u201d in Palestine \u2014 as he used a St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebration to rip the \u201cdeafening silence from so many\u201d on the Israel-Hamas war.<\/p>\n
The Democratic socialist dropped the Gaza-related remarks as he hosted Ireland\u2019s former President Mary Robinson for breakfast at Gracie Mansion to kickstart the Big Apple\u2019s annual St. Patrick\u2019s Day\u00a0festivities.<\/a><\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani attending a St. Patrick\u2019s Day breakfast at Gracie Mansion on March 17, 2026. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n The Irish have persevered through oppression and spread the cause of \u201csolidarity\u201d through the world, Mamdani said \u2013 without mentioning the struggle of Iranians under brutal theocratic rule.<\/p>\n \u201cWho can better understand those who weep than those who have been made to weep for so long? The story of the Irish, both in Ireland and in New York City, is at one time a story of oppression, of subjugation, and of discrimination,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Hizzoner\u00a0went on to laud Robinson, who was the first female president to lead Ireland in the \u201990s, for her human rights record and history of standing with Palestine.<\/p>\n \u201cI say this as over the past few years, as we\u2019ve witnessed a genocide unfold before our eyes, there has been deafening silence from so many,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those who have long cared about universal human rights and the extension of them to Palestinians, silence, however, is nothing new, for Palestinians are so often left to weep alone. Yet, former President Robinson has never been silent.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani used the St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebration to rip the \u201cdeafening silence from so many\u201d on the Israel-Hamas war. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n Mamdani also thanked Irish New Yorkers for helping to take up the \u201cfight for a future of justice.\u201d Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Mamdani also thanked Irish New Yorkers for helping to take up the \u201cfight for a future of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Robinson, for her part, listed off the wave of ongoing global conflicts as she noted Ireland\u2019s ability to recognize the plight of many.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know others are living under the shadow of war and suffering in Iran, in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Ukraine, in Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo, and in too many other places,\u201d she said as she briefly addressed the breakfast event attended by about 50 people.<\/p>\n Mamdani taking a selfie with an attendee at the St. Patrick\u2019s Day breakfast. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cFor many Irish people, these realities resonate deeply, as the mayor has said, our own history holds memories of famine, exile, and conflict. Perhaps because of that, many recognize echoes of Ireland\u2019s past within the suffering of others today, in the pain of displacement and the enduring human longing for dignity, justice, and self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is called for now is community, not the division and domination we are seeing far too often. What is needed instead is the deeper moral courage to stand on the side of peace, defend human dignity, and resolutely refuse despair,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat courage lives in ordinary people. It lived in those in Ireland, through long years of conflict, refused and fell fast to the belief still possible now in those of people, those who keep faith, but have ever more just world is still possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Hizzoner\u2019s politicized remarks came before he\u00a0attended Mass at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, smiling as New York\u2019s new archbishop, Ronald Hicks, <\/a>passed by him at the beginning of the service inside the famed Manhattan house of worship.<\/p>\n Mamdani attended a St. Patrick\u2019s Day mass at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral in Manhattan. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n Archbishop Ronald Hicks walking past Mamdani in St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral. Mamdani notably did not attend Hicks\u2019 installation mass last month. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n