NY mayoral candidate won’t denounce slogan that calls for violence against jews

“I don’t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, known for his ardent anti-Israel views, once again refused to denounce the slogan “globalize the intifada” on ABC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.

“That’s not language that I use,” Mamdani responded to moderator Kristen Welker.

“It’s language I understand there are concerns about, and what I will do is showcase my vision for the city through my words and my actions.”

“The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead the city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights,” said Mamdani.

When pressed about the Jewish community’s concern about the slogan calling for violence against Jews, Mamdani responded, “I’ve heard those fears, and I’ve had those conversations, and I don’t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech,” he added.

The mayoral candidate added that, if elected, his task would not include “making clear what language I believe is permissible or impermissible.”

He then criticized President Trump for censoring speech supporting Hamas.

Mamdani called antisemitism “a real issue in our city,” but added that he would not police speech and claimed he is focused on action.

He had received criticism from the Jewish community in New York for refusing to criticize the chant in the mayoral debate against former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

During the debate, Mamdani defended the quote as expressing “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”

He claimed the a similar Arabic term for “uprising” was used to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis. This comment earned Mamdani criticism from the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.