OPINION:
As he left a campaign stop for one of his allies Friday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani offered his first public comment on the pro-Hamas demonstration the previous day outside a Queens synagogue.
“That language is wrong,” Mr. Mamdani said. “I think that language has no place in New York City.”
This evasive comment from Mr. Mamdani, which avoided any condemnation of Hamas, was not how other New York leaders reacted.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, was clear in his condemnation of Hamas support. He posted on X last week, “Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Jews. … Chanting support for Hamas is antisemitic and unacceptable.” New York Attorney General Letitia James did not mince words in her own social media post. “Hamas is a terrorist organization,” she wrote. “We do not support terrorists.”
Is Mr. Mamdani not aware that Hamas openly says in its charter that it intends to “obliterate” Israel? It seems unlikely he doesn’t know that Article 20 of the 2017 Hamas General Principles and Policies states that “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
Perhaps the mayor thought Big Apple residents wouldn’t notice how cagey his language was.
JULIA LUTCH
Davis, California
Please read our comment policy before commenting.