Mamdani defends Nakba Day post, says he planned to appear in the video

Mamdani said he had planned to appear in the video himself but “did fall sick” and did not want to “create any kind of complications.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended a video marking Nakba Day during a press conference Monday after facing criticism from the UJA-Federation and Jewish organizations that are boycotting an event he is hosting for American Jewish Heritage Month and the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

“I was proud to commemorate Nakba Day, which is an annual day on May 15th that commemorates the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from 1947 to 1945 during the creation of the State of Israel and for the year that followed,” Mamdani said, incorrectly stating the years connected to Israel’s establishment.

UJA-Federation criticized the presentation, saying it omitted the wider regional war surrounding Israel’s founding.

“Twenty-two Arab states launched a war to destroy Israel on May 15, 1948,” the UJA-Federation said, adding that the conflict also led to the expulsion of “800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab nations across the region.”

The video included testimony from a Palestinian resident who described her family’s departure from Jerusalem. It also characterized the Nakba as an ongoing experience for Palestinians.

“We wanted to ensure that the focus of this is just to hear from a New Yorker herself, on her own memories, of what it means to be expelled, what her life has been like, and she has found home in New York City,” Mamdani said.

He had planned to appear in the video himself, he said, but he “did fall sick” and did not want to “create any kind of complications” for the subject of the video.

“My message to Jewish leaders across this city is that my door is always open,” he said in response to a question about Jewish groups declining to attend his heritage event.

The dispute unfolded as demonstrations marking Nakba Day took place in Manhattan. Protesters marched through the streets carrying Hezbollah flags and chanting slogans calling for the destruction of Israel.

Mamdani’s comments and the reaction from UJA-Federation added to public debate surrounding the mayoral candidate’s positions on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as events connected to Nakba Day were held across New York City on Monday.