‘We Made History’ – Mamdani Set to be New York’s Next Mayor

June 25, 2025 News
Zohran Kwame Mamdani. (Photo: Dmitryshein, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

A critic of Israel’s ongoing military onslaught on Gaza, Mamdani has said, “I will always be clear in my language and based in facts: Israel is committing a genocide.”

Zohran Kwame Mamdani declared victory in New York’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, positioning him to become the city’s first Muslim mayor.

“Tonight, we made history,” Mamdani, 33, told supporters after former Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded defeat.

Preliminary first-round results reportedly indicated that Mamdani had 43.5 percent of the vote with Cuomo on 36.4 percent after 93 percent of the votes were counted.

Mamdani said, “We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford, a city where they can do more than just struggle … where hard work is repaid with a stable life.”

Born in Uganda to Indian-origin parents, Mamdani could become one of the youngest mayors in the United States’ biggest city if he wins the mayoral election in November.

The Democratic Socialist, who has received endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders as well as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, focused on issues such as housing affordability, free public bus transport, community safety and free childcare, in his campaign.

Mamdani, who became a US citizen in 2018, also focused on “Trump-proofing NYC” vowing to “fight Trump’s attempts to gouge the working class.” US President Donald Trump “has deployed ICE agents to pluck New Yorkers from their families,” he stated on his website.

Critic of Gaza Genocide

The left-wing candidate has also been a vocal critic of Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip.

“I will always be clear in my language and based in facts: Israel is committing a genocide,” he posted on X on October 31, 2024.

In November 2023, Mamdani participated in a five-day hunger strike outside the White House calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

A supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign as a “nonviolent” movement, Mamdani also previously “co-founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine” at his alma mater, he wrote on X in 2020.

“I know firsthand the furious opposition students can provoke by standing up for our Palestinian brothers & sisters,” he stated.

‘Globalize the Intifada’ Phrase

Mamdani has also faced criticism for defending the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” during a recent podcast interview.

According to an Anadolu report, Mamdani said: “To me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”

Litmus Test for International Law and Human Rights – Will Gaza Unite Us?

He added that “The very word (intifada) has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the (1943) Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means struggle.”

Arrest of Netanyahu

In an interview with Mehdi Hasan in December 2024, Mamdani was asked whether he would, as a “Mayor Mamdani”,  welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to New York City.

“No. As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu,” he replied, adding, “This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also.”

Netanyahu currently faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Asked about his views on a two-state or one-state solution for Israel and Palestine in an interview with Politico, Mamdani said “What I would hope to see there, as would hope to see anywhere in the world, is adherence to international law and equal rights for all involved.”

On the question of US funding for Israel’s defense or “all overall funding,” Mamdani said, “I think what is incumbent to do is to stop subsidizing a genocide.”

He was also asked whether he recognizes Israel as a state and whether it has “a right to exist.”

“Yes. I recognize Israel. And it also has responsibilities under international law. And what I have called for time and again is the equal application of those responsibilities and an end to a politics of exceptionalism that we’ve seen take hold in our city and in our country when it comes to what so-called universal rights we are willing to apply when it comes to Palestinians,” Mamdani replied.

Mamdani’s Mother on Israeli ‘Apartheid’

Mamdani’s mother is renowned filmmaker Mira Nair, who in July 2013, turned down an invitation to attend the Haifa International Film Festival in Israel as a guest of honor, citing Israel’s “occupation” and “apartheid.”

“I will not be going to Israel at this time. I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone,” she wrote on X (then Twitter).

“I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over,” Nair continued, reportedly adding “I stand w/ Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Mov’t.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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2 Comments

  1. Mmm-hmmm…we’ve heard it all before. Don’t talk about it, just fix it. Not to be defeatist, just being a realist – the fact that he made it this far is already suspicious. The way things are, they pretend to show us two sides of a one-sided coin, which makes us believe we have a choice and change will happen, when in reality both sides are after the same goal: to be endorsed by AIPAC and the Zionists who control everything, and to be obscurantists in the name of Big Government. Let’s hope i’m wrong.

  2. He was also asked whether he recognizes Israel as a state and whether it has “a right to exist.”

    “Yes. I recognize Israel.”

    He’s a zio. There’s no way the occupation has a right to exist

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