by Ben Whedon
New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday marked the third anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that kicked off the Gaza war, by accusing Israel of genocide, which prompted backlash.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas stormed a series of Israeli border towns, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. The attack prompted an Israeli invasion of Gaza, which has since become the subject of international outcry. Israel has faced accusations of genocide and war crimes throughout the conflict and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7,” Mamdani posted on X. “On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.”
But Mamdani then pivoted to address Israel’s response to the attack and urged supporters to honor the dead by advocating for an end to the fighting and accountability for war crimes on both sides.
“The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children,” he added. “Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.”
“Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment,” he concluded.
“To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.”
In response to Mamdani’s message on social media, Democratic New York Rep. Daniel Goldman called it a “reprehensible statement on the anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack by a Palestinian terrorist organization against innocent Israelis.”
“In the guise of “grieving” with those mourning that day, Mayor Mamdani asserts as fact hotly disputed allegations that he knows full well will offend and further upset those same people he pretends to grieve with,” Goldman said. “On this day of all days, the Mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel embraces extreme activism instead of balanced leadership.”
Florida Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz noted, ” He basically said ‘The Jews that died, sad, but it’s their fault.’ He needs the city’s antisemitism policy for himself. Just an atrocious statement.”
International opinion on a genocide in Gaza is somewhat mixed, with the vast majority of Muslim-majority nations supporting that view. The United States, Germany, and several others have rejected that categorization, while many nations are likely to defer to a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). South Africa has brought a genocide case to that international body against Israel over the matter.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Zohran Mamdani” by Zohran Mamdani.
