Zohran Mamdani under fire for slamming Israel in Oct 7 post, booed at NY vigil

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has come under strong criticism after he accused Israel of committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza while he was marking the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks. He also condemned the killings and hostage-taking by Hamas, which triggered the bloody war that has devastated Gaza.

He was booed and heckled as he arrived at an October 7 vigil at New York’s Union Square, where protesters shouting at the mayor, with some carrying Hamas and Hezbollah flags. Chants included "Zohran you can't hide, we charge you with genocide" and "Shame on you".

Other protesters criticised Mamdani for what they described as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. The mayor remained at the vigil despite the disruptions.

In a statement issued on the anniversary, Mamdani pointed to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, saying the suffering had continued beyond October 7.

"The suffering did not begin nor end that day," Mamdani wrote. "It instead continued through the Israeli government's devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,000 children."

Mamdani also said that more than 1,400 Palestinians had been killed even since the "so-called ceasefire". He cited Israeli attacks on ambulances outside hospitals, drone strikes targeting residential buildings or journalists and restrictions on food aid as examples of what he described as continuing suffering.

"Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them, all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes," he said.

Mamdani also called for an end to occupation and apartheid and for greater accountability over alleged war crimes, saying, "To honour the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity".

Before slamming Israel, Mamdani also condemned the October 7 attack, saying that the day was "profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers" and acknowledged the loss suffered in the Hamas-led attack.

"This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7," Mamdani said. "On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbours who still carry that unthinkable loss."

JEWISH LEADERS SLAMS MAMDANI

The New York mayor’s comments triggered immediate criticism from Jewish leaders and advocacy groups. They argued that the anniversary should have been focused on remembering those killed and taken hostage in the Hamas attack.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, accused Mamdani of using the anniversary to repeat his criticism of Israel.

"Not once do you say 'Jews'," Greenblatt wrote on X. "On October 7, Hamas-led attackers murdered civilians, committed sexual violence, mutilated bodies and took hostages."

He accused Mamdani of "weaponising a day meant for mourning the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to recycle your usual anti-Zionist talking points".

Jack Simony, president and director of the Auschwitz Jewish Centre Foundation, said Jewish people should be allowed to mourn the victims without having their grief reframed as criticism of Israel.

"The Jewish people should be afforded this one day to mourn the murdered, the raped and the children left orphaned, without having their grief reframed as an indictment of Israel," Simony said.

He added that Palestinians had "suffered enormously from the war Hamas unleashed" and that their suffering deserved recognition, but said Mamdani should understand "the weight of this day for the Jewish New Yorkers he represents".

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, president of the New York Board of Rabbis, described Mamdani’s statement as "morally perverse". "It is like sticking a knife into the pain of the Jewish community in New York and in America," Hirsch said.

A New York Democrat, Dan Goldman, also criticised the mayor's statement, saying, "There are 364 days of the year to focus on that. This is a day that should just be focused on what was, by all agreement, a horrific terror attack".

He accused Mamdani of blaming Israelis for the attack they suffered.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee called Mamdani’s statement a "disgraceful moral failure".

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