More than 100,000 people have signed a petition asking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to stay away from the 25th anniversary 9/11 memorial ceremony. The petition was started by relatives of victims, and some families have personally delivered it to City Hall.
Their objection is not simply about party politics. It is about the people and rhetoric surrounding Mamdani.
Critics point to his chief legal counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda operative who pleaded guilty to war-crimes charges tied to the terror group. The script also notes that al-Darbi was related by marriage to one of the 9/11 hijackers.
They also cite Mamdani’s relationship with Hasan Piker, the streamer who said “America deserved 9/11,” and his repeated refusal to clearly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani has said he intends to attend and that the focus should be on the victims and their families. But that is exactly the issue: some of those families are telling him not to come.
The Guardian framed the controversy around Rudy Giuliani’s criticism of Mamdani. But the petition began with a 9/11 widower before Giuliani weighed in, and reducing the families’ objections to Islamophobia does not answer the substance of what they are saying.
The 9/11 memorial is not a political stage. It is a day for the victims, their families, and the nearly 3,000 innocent people murdered by Islamist terrorists. If some of those families say Mamdani’s presence feels inappropriate, their concerns deserve to be taken seriously, not dismissed.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
