New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing fierce backlash over his statement marking the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel — a message critics say devoted more space to condemning Israel than to commemorating the victims of the massacre.
What Mamdani said
In his Wednesday statement, Mamdani called the anniversary "profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers" and described the Hamas attack — in which more than 1,100 Israelis were killed and 251 abducted — as "horrific war crimes," adding: "We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss."
He then pivoted to Israel's subsequent campaign in Gaza: "The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government's devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza." Mamdani cited more than 74,000 Palestinian deaths, including over 21,000 children, and said more than 1,400 Palestinians had been killed even since a ceasefire. He accused Israel of bombing ambulances outside hospitals, drone strikes on residential buildings and journalists, and turning away food aid — and condemned "occupation and apartheid," saying "our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment."
The backlash
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused Mamdani of trying to "hijack" the anniversary: "It is like turning September 11 into a day of mourning for al-Qaeda terrorists." Critics noted that less than a quarter of the mayor's statement addressed the October 7 victims. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said Mamdani was "weaponizing a day meant for mourning" and noted the statement did not use the word "Jews" once. Rabbi Marc Schneier said the mayor "chose to incite hatred" rather than honor the victims.
The other side
Mamdani's supporters argue the mayor did what few American politicians will: name the scale of Palestinian suffering on a day when it is hardest to do so. The mayor has previously said he is committed to countering antisemitism, noting that Jewish New Yorkers — a minority in the city — comprise a majority of hate-crime victims, and that his administration will "not only look to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe" but "celebrate and cherish" them.
The takeaway: three years after October 7, the day itself has become contested ground. Whether Mamdani's statement was moral clarity or a hijacking of mourning depends entirely on which grief the reader carries — and that division is exactly why this story will keep burning.
Watch: Fox News' video report on Ambassador Danon's rebuke of Mamdani's October 7 statement
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0