Contrary to what one may believe, we’re not here to critique New York democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for his grating stint as a rapper.
What’s more troubling is the New York Democratic mayoral primary results that came out on Wednesday. There are currently massive efforts to unearth just who Mamdani is behind the cool millennial-politician facade. Here’s what you need to know.
Who’s the Real Zohran Mamdani?
Mamdani, an anti-Israel progressive whose rhetoric at the very least encourages antisemitism, has soared past other candidates in support – and he’s gaslighting the Jews of New York by lying to their faces when evidence of his true stances are plentiful, public and loud.
One of the most obvious criteria of antisemitism that he fills according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, is that he denies Jews the right to self-determination. He has recently refined his views on Israel as a Jewish state to be more palatable. However, in the NY-Politico primary debate, he was asked whether or not he believes Israel should exist as a Jewish state, and responded that he believes Israel should exist “as a state with equal rights.”
?? — NYC MAYORAL DEBATE: Socialist Pro-Hamas Democrat NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani refused to say he believes in a Jewish State of Israel. pic.twitter.com/VYYbM2rP25
— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) June 5, 2025
A slick political answer… or is it? Consider the viewers’ intelligence insulted.
Along those lines, Mamdani also founded the Bowdoin College chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which has since routinely referred to Zionism as a racist, colonial ideology. He even has said as much in a 2014 op-Ed for The Bowdoin Orient titled Mills’ Rejection of ASA Boycott Misunderstands the Movement: “the call for the boycott comes in response to more than 60 years of Israeli colonial occupation of Palestine.”
It’s a rejection and delegitmization of Jewish collective identity and sovereignty as a whole, one which officially won out in 1948. The term “colonial occupation” is simply inaccurate, and regardless — irrelevant.
Based on his affiliations and his own statements, there isn’t much space, if at all, for even a two-state solution with a lawful State of Israel as it has existed for the last 77 years.
And there’s more in the clip below:
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Now, even though we aren’t going to make fun of Mamdani for trying his hand at an illustrious F-list rap career, we may as well criticize some antisemitic elements present in his songs. One example is Salaam, released in 2017. In it, Mamdani praises the Holy Land 5, who were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas through their organization. Here is what Canary Mission revealed:
??????????: In an unearthed rap song, NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani praised five convicted terror funders.
– The five funneled $12M to Hamas
– Mamdani sent his “love” to them
– Track released in 2017 also called to tear down the U.S. border wall pic.twitter.com/6nxRsbn7tv— Canary Mission (@canarymission) June 20, 2025
Although he insists that his political platform is focused on local economic policies, The Times of Israel reported that Mamdani declared that the Palestinian cause is “central to his identity and the reason he got into politics” during his victory rally. It’s food for thought, to say the least.
“Not on our Dime”
On that note, the Not On Our Dime Act, was first introduced by Mamdani in 2023. The bill’s purpose is to discourage and punish Jewish charitable organizations which donate to either the IDF or to settlements in the West Bank, by slapping them with a minimum one million dollar fine. But a look at the bill’s website and the actual content of the legislation sheds some light onto what progressives see as “expanding” and “legitimizing settlements” in the West Bank and other areas.
One particular clause stands out:
UNAUTHORIZED SUPPORT OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED SUPPORT OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY BY A NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION SHALL BE PROHIBITED AS AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY AND INCONSIST- ENT WITH ANY CHARITABLE PURPOSE.
In simple terms, non-profit organizations wouldn’t be allowed to support Israeli settlement activity that isn’t officially authorized. Doing so would go against public policy and wouldn’t count as a legitimate charitable purpose.
But what does that mean? At face value, whatever is deemed illegal settlement activity according to international law would be a violation. However, the definition of international law in the bill itself is rather vague and up for debate. Among other things, this act would punish an organization for purchasing an ambulance for a Hatzalah branch in Efrat or Ariel, two well-established Jewish cities located in the West Bank. It would be considered “expanding” or “legitimizing” a settlement. It doesn’t distinguish between life-saving aid or support for violent extremists.
“Silence Is Complicity” & All That Jazz
No matter that Mamdani gets endorsements from famous anti-Israel and antisemitic figures like Linda Sarsour, Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman, he’s also affiliated with people and organizations that spew blatant Jew-hate — without condemning it.
Many are talking about his recent Twitch stream interview with overt antisemite Hasan Piker, who has mocked Jewish suffering, justified violence on Jews, used dehumanizing slurs to describe Jewish people, and more. Others point to his affiliations with movements like Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”, as well as acknowledge how it tends to lead to violence against Jews.
Bret Stephens said it best in his op-Ed for the New York Times, called “What Globalize the Intifada Really Means”:
A major political candidate who plainly refuses to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” isn’t participating in legitimate democratic debate; he is giving moral comfort to people who deliberately murder innocent Jews.
There’s a quiet approval and proud ignorance that reveals the truth about N.Y. Assemblyman Mamdani.
Redefining Antisemitism to Please Jew Haters
Media have taken a special interest in Mamdani as well – plastering heroic profiles of him everywhere. The New York Times’ Masha Gessen, in particular, has taken quite the delusional approach in “The Attacks on Zohran Mamdani Show That We Need a New Understanding of Antisemitism.”
For one, Gessen attempted to redefine what an antisemitic attack is:
There’s plenty of delusional stuff in this @nytimes op-ed, “Antisemitism Isn’t What People Think It Is.”
But questioning whether the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC, and the attack on a rally in Boulder, Colorado, are antisemitic might just top it all. pic.twitter.com/Vbi3nA7wI1
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 24, 2025
Another excerpt describes the unfortunate xenophobia Mamdani has had to deal with and how broken up he is about being called an antisemite.
When I spoke to Mamdani on the phone a couple of days after that press conference, it became clear to me that there is another reason he chokes up: It’s hard to keep defending yourself against a false accusation.
While there are undoubtedly extremists who went too far in their criticism of him, many argue that it’s legitimate to say that Mamdani is antisemitic. The mere fact that he praises Hamas terror funders, marched with Hamas supporters, won’t denounce the chant “globalize the intifada” (because he says it is simply a coin of the Palestinian struggle), and decided (though he has no right to) that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism proves that.
Perhaps Mamdani himself as a non-Jew does not truly understand the significance of all this like a Jew would, but it is ignorant and appalling for a mayoral hopeful of the U.S. city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel to ignore why antisemitism is at an all time high, and more importantly how his rhetoric contributes to creating that environment. He’s part of the problem.
Op-Eds are meant for opinions, but facts are facts, and those do not change, no matter how you try to twist them or ignore vital context.
All in all, Mamdani attempts to cover for his past and his current ties by saying he will fight antisemitism, but uses contradictory language out of the other side of his mouth.
Suffice it to say, what he believes is antisemitism is irrelevant, because he has no right to redefine it. Jews of New York know better, and hopefully, the majority of non-Jewish New Yorkers will wake up before it’s too late.
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Image Credit:
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
