{"id":367217,"date":"2026-10-07T21:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367217\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T21:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:22:12","slug":"mamdani-marks-oct-7-by-accusing-israel-of-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367217\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani marks Oct. 7 by accusing Israel of genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack Wednesday by mourning the Israelis killed and abducted before accusing Israel of committing \u201cgenocide\u201d and \u201capartheid\u201d in Gaza, drawing sharp criticism from Israeli diplomats as commemorations were held across New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers,\u201d Mamdani wrote in a statement. \u201cIt marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9<\/a>\"\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9<\/p>\n

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s post marking the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack <\/p>\n

(Photo: Screengrab\/NYCMayor\/X)<\/p>\n

Mamdani said Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 people in the attack. \u201cWe grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

But the mayor immediately turned to the war in Gaza, saying \u201cthe suffering did not begin nor end that day\u201d and accusing the Israeli government of carrying out a \u201cdevastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani said more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,000 children, had been killed and claimed more than 1,400 Palestinians had been killed since what he called the \u201cso-called ceasefire.\u201d He also accused Israel of bombing ambulances outside hospitals, targeting residential buildings and journalists with drone strikes and turning away food aid at border crossings.<\/p>\n

The figures and allegations were presented by Mamdani in his statement. Israel has rejected accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza and has said its military targets Hamas and other terrorist groups while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.<\/p>\n

\"\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9<\/a>\"\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9<\/p>\n

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani <\/p>\n

(Photo: Brendan McDermid\/Reuters)<\/p>\n

\u201cMany New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them \u2014 all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes,\u201d Mamdani wrote.<\/p>\n

He also accused the U.S. government of complicity through arms shipments to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment,\u201d he said. \u201cTo honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani issued a similarly structured statement on the anniversary last year. He began then by describing the Hamas attack as a \u201chorrific war crime,\u201d cited the Israeli death toll and said he was praying for the return of the hostages before turning to Gaza and accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of waging what he called a genocidal war. He also accused the U.S. government of complicity and called for an end to what he described as \u201coccupation and apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a separate statement Wednesday focused on the victims of the Hamas attack and the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to fathom that it has been three years since the October 7 Hamas massacre,\u201d Hochul wrote. \u201cThree years since the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain of that dark day has not faded. But neither has the strength, resilience and enduring hope of the Jewish people,\u201d she added. \u201cToday, we remember the innocent lives stolen, stand with the survivors and the families forever changed, and pray for a lasting peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s statement drew condemnation from senior Israeli representatives in the United States.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, accused the mayor of attempting to appropriate the anniversary to attack Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Mamdani-ism\u2019 \u2014 an attempt to hijack the anniversary of October 7 and turn it into yet another propaganda attack against Israel,\u201d Danon said. \u201cIt is like turning September 11 into a day of mourning for al-Qaeda terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will remember those who were murdered, and we will never forget who was behind this massacre,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ofir Akunis, Israel\u2019s consul general in New York, also sharply criticized Mamdani, saying the mayor \u201cshould be ashamed of himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame that on October 7, the day that the Hamas monsters brutally murdered, raped and burned our people alive, Mamdani responded in this way,\u201d Akunis said.<\/p>\n

Akunis invited Mamdani to attend a screening later Wednesday of footage documenting atrocities committed during the Hamas attack, saying it was \u201cnot too late to come and watch the horror film and see the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani was scheduled to attend an anniversary gathering at Union Square later Wednesday organized by Israelis for Peace. Organizers described the event as an evening of \u201cquiet reflection and mourning\u201d for those killed in 2023 and for the \u201cbloody aftermath\u201d of the attack.<\/p>\n

After the memorial, Mamdani was scheduled to meet with Palestinian residents of New York, as the mayor sought to engage communities deeply divided over the war.<\/p>\n

It was to be Mamdani\u2019s second year attending the Union Square commemoration. He attended the previous year while running for mayor alongside Brad Lander, then New York City comptroller.<\/p>\n

In his first statement after the 2023 attack, Mamdani did not explicitly condemn Hamas and focused largely on Israel\u2019s response. He later condemned the killing of civilians and subsequently denounced Hamas directly, calling the Oct. 7 assault a \u201chorrific war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian groups, meanwhile, were organizing campus strikes and a protest outside City Hall on Wednesday, accusing Mamdani of \u201cbetraying his values\u201d and bowing to what they described as Zionist pressure.<\/p>\n

A series of other events were held across New York to mark three years since the attack.<\/p>\n

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan organized what it called a \u201cday of remembrance, music and community,\u201d including an exhibition of drawings by Israeli artist Zeev Engelmayer.<\/p>\n

UJA-Federation of New York unveiled \u201cRooted\u201d at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, a public installation made from thousands of dog tags and pins bearing messages calling for the return of the hostages.<\/p>\n

At 92NY on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of former hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, was taking part in a discussion with Palestinian father Jasser Abu Musa. The conversation was moderated by Claire Shipman, who previously served as acting president of Columbia University.<\/p>\n

Former hostage Omer Shem Tov was scheduled to speak Wednesday evening at Yeshiva University\u2019s memorial ceremony, while the Park Slope Jewish Center in Brooklyn was hosting testimony from Atir Vinikov, a survivor of the massacre at the Nova music festival.<\/p>\n

The anniversary was also marked by tensions outside the United States.<\/p>\n

\"\u05dc\u05d5\u05e0\u05d3\u05d5\u05df<\/a>\"\u05dc\u05d5\u05e0\u05d3\u05d5\u05df<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian rally in London <\/p>\n

(Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Earlier Wednesday, masked protesters demonstrated outside the London headquarters of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, hours before the organization was due to host a major memorial event.<\/p>\n

The protesters, some draped in Iranian, Palestinian and Irish flags, gathered outside the Board of Deputies\u2019 offices in Camden for about 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

They chanted \u201cstop killing babies\u201d and carried signs accusing the organization of genocide denial. Other signs described the umbrella organization representing British Jews as \u201cIsrael\u2019s mouthpiece\u201d and a \u201cshield for Israel\u2019s crimes\u201d and accused it of weaponizing antisemitism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack Wednesday by mourning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-367217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}