Jewish Democrats in Congress are expressing concerns about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, saying that his statements related to Israel may be dangerous, while antisemitism is on the rise in the United States.
Mamdani has insisted that it “pains” him to “be called an antisemite,” but several of his past comments, including support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, making accusations of apartheid against Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, not denouncing the saying “globalize the intifada,” and refusing to call Israel a Jewish state, are disturbing, some of the Congress members are saying, reports The Hill on Wednesday.
“To not be willing to condemn the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ it just demonstrates his callous disregard for antisemitism, terrorist activity,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., commented. “Anyone that I care about couldn’t possibly distance themselves from him more. It’s really terribly disturbing and potentially dangerous.”
If elected in November, Mamdani, a democratic socialist, would be leading the city with the country’s largest Jewish population.
“When you have a prominent candidate who is giving permission to use dangerous rhetoric that potentially incites violence and incites people, and creates a permission structure to fan the flames of violence? That’s just completely unacceptable,” Schultz added. “And how he doesn’t understand that shows me that he isn’t ready for prime time.”
Another Jewish Democrat, Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, accused Mamdani of “ignoring or gaslighting the public” by referring to the phrase “globalize the intifada” as a “peaceful call,” and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said he thinks the New York assemblyman is “wrong on all those things.”
“If he can’t tell people globalizing the intifada, if he can’t say that that’s antisemitic, then obviously, he’s going to continue to add to the problem, not deflate it,” Moskowitz, whose district in Florida has a large population of Jewish people, added.
But New York’s Congressional Jewish Democrats are not yet sounding the alarm bells on Mamdani.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., endorsed the mayoral hopeful on the day after he won his primary race.
Two other New Yorkers, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Dan Goldman, have not endorsed Mamdani but have issued statements about him.
“Zohran and I share a desire to lift up vulnerable New Yorkers and make the city more affordable and safe,” Goldman said in a statement after meeting with Mamdani.
“To that end, I explained why Jewish New Yorkers feel unsafe in the City and that, as he continues this campaign, he must not only condemn anti-Jewish hate and calls for violence, but make clear that as Mayor, he would take proactive steps to protect all New Yorkers and make us secure,” Goldman said.
Meanwhile, Mamdani, in a press conference before the June primary, said that there is “no room for antisemitism in this city and this country.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., is urging his party to join in supporting Mamdani, saying the candidate shouldn’t be penalized for a slogan he doesn’t use.
“Globalize the intifada is not his slogan,” he said. “Our position is we’ve got to globalize human rights and peace and security for every nation and every people, and everything I’ve heard from him was consistent with that.”
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