Mamdani Condemns Protest Language but Says Synagogue Shouldn’t Promote “Activities in Violation of International Law”
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is distancing himself from the extreme rhetoric shouted at outside a Nefesh B’Nefesh event at Park East Synagogue on Wednesday night — while simultaneously accusing the synagogue of promoting actions he claims “violate international law”.
“The Mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so,” Mamdani’s press secretary, Dora Pekec, said in a Thursday afternoon statement. “He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.”
When asked by the Jewish Insider to clarify what “activities” Pekec was referring to, Mamdani’s team said the remark was “specifically in reference to the organization’s promotion of settlement activity beyond the Green Line,” which they claimed “violates international law.”
Outside the event, anti-Israel demonstrators shouted explosive chants including “Death to the IDF,” “We don’t want no Zionists here,” “Resistance you make us proud, take another settler out,” and “From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada.”
One protest leader repeatedly called for intimidation, shouting into a megaphone: “We need to make them scared. We need to make them scared. We need to make them scared.” The agitator added that it was activists’ “duty to make them think twice before holding these events.”
Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the incident, posting on X:
“No New Yorker should be intimidated or harassed at their house of worship. What happened last night at Park East Synagogue was shameful and a blatant attack on the Jewish community. Hate has no place in New York.”
The event hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh proceeded despite the disruption.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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