On the 3rd anniversary of October 7 attacks, Mamdani draws ire as he accuses Israel of genocide and war crimes

By Katherine Koretski, CNN

New York (CNN) — New York’s mayor marked the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel on Wednesday with a statement that has sparked backlash among some Jewish leaders.

In his statement, Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged the “horrific war crimes of October 7” while also accusing Israel of committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. 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,” Mamdani wrote in a statement.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” the statement continued. “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. 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,” Mamdani wrote.

“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. To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity,” the statement finished.

Hamas-led gunmen stormed Israeli communities along the border with Gaza on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people, including children, women and elderly people. The attackers also took 251 hostages.

The mayor, a prominent critic of Israel’s government, received immediate backlash from some Jewish leaders on social media for his statement.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, accused Mamdani of “weaponizing a day meant for mourning the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to recycle your usual antizionist talking points,” in a post on X.

“The city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel deserves a mayor who can honor the dead without exploiting them,” he wrote. The Anti-Defamation League has launched a “Mamdani Monitor” to track the mayor’s administration.

The president and director of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation similarly referred to New York’s status as the city with the largest Jewish community outside Israel, saying “the Jewish people should be afforded this one day to mourn the murdered, the raped and the children left orphaned, without having their grief reframed as an indictment of Israel.”

“Palestinians have suffered enormously from the war Hamas unleashed, and their suffering deserves recognition,” Jack Simony wrote, adding Mamdani “should understand the weight of this day for the Jewish New Yorkers he represents.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee called Mamdani’s statement a “disgraceful moral failure.” Mamdani has denounced the organization for its spending in US elections.

Last month, the mayor announced the first-ever municipal strategy for New York City to combat antisemitism, including tens of millions of dollars in funding for hate crime prevention and Jewish cultural centers.

Mamdani, who has faced accusations of antisemitism from some Jewish groups over his criticisms of Israel and his handling of protests outside synagogues, has attempted to make outreach to Jewish communities in the city a strong element of his administration.

During his campaign, he suggested as mayor he would seek to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant for war crimes, even though the US is not a signatory to the ICC. The mayor acknowledged earlier this summer that he would not have the legal authority to do so.

The mayor is set to attend a vigil in remembrance of October 7 Wednesday night, followed by a meeting with Palestinian New Yorkers, according to his public schedule.

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