‘We support Hamas’ chants put Mamdani’s Israel stance at center stage

 POLITICO

"As a state lawmaker, Mamdani supported the BDS movement against Israel — and indicated during the mayoral primary he would back it from City Hall if elected."

toon added by TD

   "NEW YORK — Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside a Queens synagogue Thursday night and shouted the slogan: “Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here.” The political condemnation was swift.

   "The governor, City Council speaker, borough president, congressional representative and local assemblymember all denounced the language in statements posted to social media. Mayor Zohran Mamdani took a different approach.

   "His press team and social media accounts had made no mention of the events by noon Friday as video of the chant captured millions of views on social media and was shared widely by elected officials from both parties.

   " 'Still waiting on condemnation of support for Hamas at a protest in a Jewish neighborhood from @NYCMayor,” posted Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents the Queens enclave of Kew Gardens Hills, where the protest took place.

   "Mamdani’s first public comment on the pro-Hamas demonstration did not come in a press release or social media post, but was offered in response to a question from POLITICO after a Brooklyn Congressional campaign stop for one of his allies.    "As he was leaving the event, Mamdani briefly addressed the protestors’ chants.

   " 'That language is wrong,” Mamdani said Friday, while being escorted to his vehicle. “I think that language has no place in New York City.”

   "The protest chant — and the mayor’s response to it — offers a look into the first of many tests Mamdani stands to face around the highly disputed intersection between pro-Palestinian activism and anti-semitism in the city with the world’s largest        Jewish population. The expectation for a response to allegations of antisemitism embedded in pro-Palestinian activism also comes as Mamdani’s political success has given way to a wave of Democratic primary challenges around the city and state energized by pro-Palestinian activism." . . .