OPINION:
Three years ago, 13 days after Hamas brutally invaded Israel and slaughtered more than 1,200 people, Zohran Mamdani hit the streets of New York City with a bullhorn to attend a pro-Palestinian rally.
He led a chant: “Senator Gillibrand! Call for! Ceasefire! Now! Senator Gillibrand! You are! Complicit! In the! Genocide! Senator Gillibrand! Not in! Our name! Not on! Our dime! Senator Gillibrand! We will! Not stop! Until! You call! For a! Ceasefire! LET’S GO!”
Israel was rightfully defending itself after suffering the worst terrorist attack since the state’s establishment in 1948. Mr. Mamdani objected, demanding that the Israel Defense Forces lay down their arms and be at peace with the fact that Hamas had not only killed their people but also abducted 251 more, who were, at the time, being tortured in the tunnels of the Gaza Strip.
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Before Mr. Mamdani was elected as New York City’s mayor, he repeatedly showed himself as the bigoted antisemite he is, explicitly declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” and calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on “war crimes.”
In his first year in office, he was among the first public officials to speak out and demand former Columbia University pro-Palestinian protest leader Mahmoud Khalil’s release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. On March 8, marking the anniversary of Mr. Khalil’s arrest, the mayor hosted Mr. Khalil at Gracie Mansion for an iftar dinner.
Therefore, it should surprise absolutely no one that on Wednesday, when the world was marking the three-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, Mr. Mamdani issued a statement dedicating 49 words as a tribute to Israelis, not Jews, and then used the rest of his statement, 141 words, condemning Israel for its “ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
Later that evening, Mr. Mamdani attended an Oct. 7 vigil hosted by leftist “Israeli anti-occupation activists” who agree that the Jewish state has committed genocide by defending itself. For the radical Islamist left, however, that acknowledgment was not enough, so they crashed the vigil, shouting, “We don’t want no two-state, we want 48,” and called Mr. Mamdani a “traitor.”
He was chased out of the event with some protesters waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags, yelling, “Mamdani, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide.” Some characterized him as an “opportunistic piece of s—-.”
Perhaps the protesters were upset that Mr. Mamdani recently unveiled an antisemitism task force, as the city’s recent municipal quarterly tallies show that antisemitic incidents make up roughly 55% of all confirmed hate crimes in New York City, despite Jewish residents accounting for about 10% of the city’s total population.
What the protesters likely overlooked is that his plan directs $6.4 million in taxpayer dollars to Partners Against the Hate, a nonprofit whose core beneficiary is the Arab American Association of New York.
As The Wall Street Journal noted, “From 2005-17, the Arab American Association of New York was led by Mamdani ally Linda Sarsour, who has compared Zionism with ’white supremacy in America,’ argued against Israel’s right to exist, praised famed antisemite Louis Farrakhan and appeared alongside Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh.”
Oh, and the organization is also a major donor to the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ New York chapter, whose executive director has classified the Oct. 7, 2023, attack as Hamas’ right to self-defense, saying he was “happy to see” it.
After the vigil, in which Mr. Mamdani visibly appeared shaken — not because of the horrific crimes committed by Hamas three years ago, but because his people appeared to be turning on him — he dined at a Palestinian restaurant, Ayat Hinds Hall, which has been accused of being “openly genocidal” against Jews.
Its sister restaurant in Brooklyn featured a menu section titled “From the River to the Sea” in the wake of the 2023 attack.
The Upper West Side branch, where Mr. Mamdani dined, was named after Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian child who was allegedly killed by the IDF in Gaza. It also pays homage to the anti-Israeli protesters at Columbia University who renamed Hamilton Hall “Hind’s Hall” when they forcibly occupied the building.
Mr. Mamdani’s allegiance to the Palestinian territories and the terrorists who control them is clear to anyone paying attention. Still, those hell-bent on the destruction of Israel can accept no compromise, not even political head fakes given to the Jewish community in New York.
That is what is so dangerous with the red (communist)-green (Islamist) political alliance. The green is not afraid to eat its own in order to achieve complete dominance.
The red, simply, never stands a chance.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at the Washington Times.
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