Zohran Mamdani ripped for using ‘Zionist' as punchline — as critics warn NYC mayoral race is at ‘code red situation'
Jewish New Yorkers were outraged over the recently resurfaced video of the mayoral race frontrunner speaking before the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023.
'If you don't clap for El-Yateem,' Mamdani said, 'You're a Zionist!'
3 A newly resurfaced video shows Zohran Mamdani calling someone a 'Zionist' as a punchline to an insulting joke.
YouTube/Democratic Socialists of America
He was referring to Lutheran pastor and Palestinian community organizer Khader El-Yateem, who ran unsuccessfully for a Brooklyn City Council seat in 2017.
Mamdani, the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman, then said, 'It's a joke, you don't have to clap.'
But Israel supporters weren't laughing.
'The turning of 'Zionist' into a slur in mainstream western liberal spaces is the most significant antisemitic development of the 21st century,' said podcaster Blake Flayton, who posted the video on X.
'This man is about to be mayor of New York,' said Flayton, host of 'We Should All Be Zionists,' of the Democratic nominee.
'I don't think people yet understand how much of a code red situation this is. The severity of the moment,' he added.
3 The Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City was seen speaking at an event for the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023 when he made the insensitive remark.
Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
Others defended Mamdani, noting he clearly said he was joking.
But Flayton was having none of it.
'It's not funny — racist/antisemitic jokes are not funny,' he posted.
Todd Richman, co-founder of Democratic Majority for Israel, responded, 'Disgusting.'
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'Enough of the 'l'll protect the Jewish community.' I'm sorry but I don't believe him,' Richman continued.
'He has been perpetuating an anti-Zionist and therefore anti Jewish agenda since college. Now all of a sudden he is going to change?'
Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said to add Mamdani's 'You're a Zionist' quip to the pile of comments and positions that the City Hall hopeful will have to explain, particularly to the Jewish community.
'He has to address comments he has made in the past that are controversial — and in some cases offensive,' Potasnik told The Post Tuesday.
3 Mamdani was referring to Khader El-Yateem, a Lutheran pastor and Palestinian community organizer, when making the joke, as he told the audience, 'It's a joke, you don't have to clap.'
Facebook/Khader El-Yateem
New York City has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, most of whom are pro-Israel or Zionists, said Potasnik, adding of Mamdani: 'We're going to hold him accountable.'
Former Queens Councilman Rory Lancman also highlighted Mamdani's history of anti-Israel statements and positions.
'Deploying 'Zionist' as an epithet comes naturally to someone like Mr. Mamdani who fundamentally, and unabashedly, opposes the right of the Jewish people — and only the Jewish people — to self-determination, freedom, and safety in their ancestral homeland, and demands of every Jew that they renounce this central aspect of their Jewish identity as the price for social and political acceptance into civil society,' said Lancman.
'Mamdani believes deeply that every Jew must bend the knee.'
During his 2023 speech, Mamdani praised the DSA for backing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.
'We mean what we say when we say we have a socialist politic. It is consistent, it is universal, and it stands for justice in every place with no exception,' he said.
The Anti-Defamation League calls the BDS movement antisemitic for seeking to undermine the world's only Jewish state.
Mamdani is a supporter of the boycott movement against Israel, even leading a pro-Palestinian rally chanting 'BDS!' and criticizing other elected officials for visiting the Jewish state.
The DSA was an an early endorser of Mamdani for mayor and the backbone of his successful Democratic primary campaign.
The candidate has been on a charm offensive since defeating ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other Dem hopefuls in the primary last month.
He has been seeking to expand his base of support for the November general election, meeting with business bigwigs, party leaders and Jewish officials.
His campaign declined to comment on the 'You're a Zionist' line.
Mamdani has come under fire for refusing to condemn the phrase 'globalize the intifada.'
After meeting with Jewish elected officials, he said he now discourages people from using the rallying call.
Mamdani also previously faced criticism for appearing to defend al Qaeda fiend Anwar al-Awlaki — and blaming America for turning the prostitution-loving cleric into a terrorist in 2015 tweets.
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It is very hard for your body to fight off disease or survive an injury, or even just survive. In most famines, we see mortality coming from a mix of both outright starvation and opportunistic infections. So people's bodies are greatly weakened, and they can't fight off diseases that would otherwise be very survivable. There is nothing coming on the horizon to improve that situation unless the Israeli government allows the mainstream professional humanitarian community to actually do their fucking jobs, and that is the one thing they will not allow. Famines have a momentum, and the longer that they are allowed to deepen, the harder they are to reverse. You need your standard food aid package distributed at scale. But you also need specialized, fortified food products, because people are in such an advanced state of malnutrition. 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I think the US is certainly complicit in that. I think even the Biden administration bears a degree of complicity in that, because they put somewhat more pressure on the Israeli government than the Trump administration has. But fundamentally, they tolerated the situation that brought Gaza to this point. They tolerated a year-plus of starvation tactics being used, deprivation and illegal blockade tactics being used, and obstruction of aid, including aid provided by the US government. Rather than taking that on with the Netanyahu government, they did gimmick after gimmick. They did air drops. They did that ridiculous pier operation. It wasn't until nearly the very end of the administration that they sent the formal letter to the Israeli government demanding concrete progress. And then, of course, there was no meaningful progress.
