{"id":52752,"date":"2025-11-26T10:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/52752\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T10:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:47:10","slug":"after-outcry-mamdani-shifts-tone-on-nyc-synagogue-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/52752\/","title":{"rendered":"After outcry, Mamdani shifts tone on NYC synagogue protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City Mayor\u2011elect Zohran Mamdani has issued a stronger statement after sharp criticism of his initial response<\/a> to last week\u2019s protest outside Park East Synagogue. <\/p>\n

The protest, organized by pro\u2011Palestinian Arab activists, saw demonstrators chanting<\/a> \u201cdeath to the IDF\u201d and \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d outside one of New York\u2019s most prominent congregations. The synagogue had rented space to Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh, an organization that assists Jews moving to Israel. <\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s first reaction, delivered through a spokeswoman, \u201cdiscouraged the language\u201d used at the protest but also rebuked the synagogue, saying \u201cthese sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law\u201d, though it did not explain what about the work of Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh can be construed as violation of international law.<\/p>\n

That remark alarmed Jewish leaders, who accused Mamdani of blaming the synagogue rather than condemning the protesters. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Mamdani shifted tone. \u201cWe will protect New Yorkers\u2019 First Amendment rights while making clear that nothing can justify language calling for \u2018death to\u2019 anyone,\u201d he said in a statement to The New York Times. \u201cIt is unacceptable, full stop.\u201d <\/p>\n

His spokeswoman added that Mamdani spoke with the synagogue\u2019s rabbi and his son. <\/p>\n

The clarification omitted any criticism of the synagogue and emphasized protection of Jewish institutions amid rising antisemitism. <\/p>\n

Mamdani, who won the mayoral election earlier this month, is notorious for his anti-Israel actions, including his criticism of Israel<\/a> on October 8, 2023 – just one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, as well as his refusal to condemn<\/a> the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada\u201d – which was shouted by the protesters on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

He has repeatedly accused Israel<\/a> of war crimes in its battle against Hamas in Gaza, and has vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City.<\/p>\n

Data released<\/a> by the New York City Police Department on the day before the mayoral election revealed that Jews were the victims in 62% of all hate crimes reported last month, with 29 antisemitic incidents out of a total of 47.<\/p>\n

On the very day that Mamdani was elected, swastikas were sprayed<\/a> on the Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, antisemitic graffiti reading \u201cF**k Jews\u201d was found<\/a> scrawled on a sidewalk in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City Mayor\u2011elect Zohran Mamdani has issued a stronger statement after sharp criticism of his initial response…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[29157,9,56,63,65,64,26582,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-52752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-anti-israel-protests","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-ny","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-nyc-headlines","13":"tag-nyc-news","14":"tag-park-east-synagogue","15":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52752","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=52752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}