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Fox News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Unearthed Mamdani clip reveals how his upbringing made him open to being called 'radical,' socialist
A resurfaced interview by New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani shows him explaining that the family he grew up in made him "open" to being a "radical" and suggesting that socialism needs to be re-branded. "I think, honestly, growing up in the family that I grew up in, I was quite open to what would be considered being a radical from a very young age," Mamdani said on The Far Left Show in 2020. "I mean, from the beginning, my identities are already considered radical by a lot of mainstream American political thought. So being a Muslim, being an immigrant, these are things that already kind of put you in the box of 'other.' And so it's not that far of a jump because whenever you... stand up to speak up for the rights of others who share the same identity as you, then you're a radical, right? So often people in this country are considered radicals if they stand up for Palestinian human rights." Mamdani has faced criticism over some of his positions taken as a young man, including supporting an academic boycott of Israel and starting a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter during his college days, as well as the past writings of his father, Mahmood Mamdani. Mahmood Mamdani's social media presence is littered with anti-Israel positions referring to Israelis as "colonial settlers" and celebrating the idea of a "third intifada." Additionally, Mahmood Mamdani sits on the council of an openly anti-Israel tribunal and once wrote in a book that suicide bombers "stigmatized as a mark of barbarism." "Zohran Mamdani has built his political brand on the same radical, hate-filled and anti-American ideology his father, Mahmood Mamdani, has spent decades promoting—one that demonizes Jewish people and legitimizes anti-democratic violence," Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney who specializes in antisemitism, told Fox News Digital earlier this month. "The Jew-hatred the Mamdani family peddles is fundamentally anti-American and violates the core values our country was founded on—tolerance, equality, and liberty. Our nation's strength lies in its diversity and commitment to protecting minority rights. Antisemitic world views threaten the peace and security of our communities." In the interview, the younger Mamdani went on to lament the criticism that Democratic Socialists of America have faced for supporting BDS. BDS is described as "an international campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel as the expression of the Jewish people's right to national self-determination by isolating the country economically through consumer boycotts, business and government withdrawal of investment, and legal sanctions," according to Influence Watch. Mamdani also explained in the interview his evolution as a "socialist." "I think I've been a socialist for quite a while, but I don't think I understood myself within the terms of that label," Mamdani said. "And I think that that is something that I not only internalized, but also became comfortable expressing when I became an active member of New York City DSA, which is an organization that I've been a member of. I attended my first meeting in early 2017, but I've been a much more active member since 2018." Mamdani added that he hopes to rebrand the word socialism to be more appetizing for the general public. "I think, for me, a lot of times people try and scare you into never embracing the word, and I think that there's a lot of work that we have to do to change our branding, because socialism in and of itself, the way I understand it, is a fight for the state to provide all that is necessary to live a dignified life for each and every person in our state," Mamdani explained. "That is something that when you explain it in that way, and when you talk about the way in which it is applied, when you're talking about typically housing, healthcare, education, but I would argue we must expand that beyond and talk about public transit and talk about the internet and talk childcare. People are receptive to that." Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
What should Jewish New Yorkers make of Zohran Mamdani?
While headlines would have you believe otherwise, Jewish New Yorkers supported Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary in droves. We showed up because our communities want to live and thrive alongside our neighbors in an affordable city where no one is left behind, and because we want a mayor who believes in Palestinian human rights. The organization I work for, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, endorsed Zohran the same day he launched his candidacy. Our volunteers knocked on more than 80,000 doors, made hundreds of thousands of calls, and raised tens of thousands in grassroots dollars. While Zohran ran a unifying campaign, Andrew Cuomo used Islamophobic fearmongering, false accusations of antisemitism and unwavering support for Israel's crimes in an attempt to divide our communities. It failed spectacularly. The Jewish community's opinion about Israel and US policy is diverse and shifting rapidly. A poll from last November showed 61% of Jews supported halting US weapons to Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Jews in the US are clear: the Israeli government is committing genocide and apartheid, and our government must stop funding it. Many Jewish New Yorkers alongside our neighbors are desperate for elected representatives brave enough to say the truth, and it is refreshing to see a politician like Zohran with consistent values, whose progressive politics do not stop at our city's borders. During a primary debate, every candidate was asked where they would first travel as mayor. Zohran replied that he would stay put in New York. When moderators bafflingly began interrogating him on visiting Israel, he replied that he need not travel abroad to understand Jewish New Yorkers. He would meet us in synagogues, on the subways and wherever else we are in the city. For many Jews watching, we felt seen in our lives, in our diversity, and in our concerns right where we live. And we felt relief to hear a candidate refuse to position New York Jews as a proxy for a government committing genocide. The Zohran campaign represents a broad coalition committed to justice and dignity. Progressive Jews are proudly part of this coalition and will fight alongside our neighbors for a New York for all. Beth Miller is the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action Elections are about choices. I didn't support Zohran Mamdani in the NYC democratic primary; I voted for Brad Lander for mayor. But now that Mamdani won, I am supporting him, despite some of his positions, particularly on Israel. I hope that he will understand that concerns like mine are real. Israel is more than a foreign policy issue for many New Yorkers. Mamdani refuses to say that the chant 'globalize the intifada' is dangerous, though he doesn't use it. But it instills fear in many of us. He also is a staunch supporter of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a movement that insists on cutting off Israeli institutions, which are considered 'complicit', even institutions or individuals who work with Arab citizens of Israel and those who oppose the occupation, as many artists and academics do. Mamdani has an opportunity to detoxify the Israel/Palestine debate among the left and within the Democratic party. He should acknowledge that there are two national struggles – Jewish and Palestinian – in one sliver of land, both deserving lives in dignity and freedom. He can be true to democratic socialist values along with other parties in the world: French, Germans, Scandinavians, all have put political might and money behind ending the occupation and investing in civil society inside Israel and a future Palestine. Of course, freedom of speech must be defended, but language that makes many of us feel unsafe – and has in fact led to violence and even deaths on US soil of innocent Jews, who were murdered simply because they were Jews, must not be excused. I was a founder of the Democratic Socialists of America, resigning decades ago. I know that the democratic socialist movement can be one of liberation for all, and for certain, it can be one that promotes equity and fairness to all New Yorkers. I hope that Mamdani governs as his own person, inspired by the values for equality that propelled him to the mayoralty. The Democratic party is a big tent, but to keep our tent inclusive we must seek dialogue and reconciliation, not incitement, to ensure that Mamdani achieves an extraordinary accomplishment at a time when our democratic underpinnings as a nation are at risk. This is an opportunity to forge a new path forward. Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK, and Israeli publications
ABC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Why Australia sanctioned Israeli Ministers
With Q+A wrapping up after an 18-year stint on our screens, PK and David Speers share their reflections and honour the crew behind the program. And Australia has joined with the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Norway to issue Magnitsky style sanctions against two Israeli Ministers, in a move which Foreign Minister Penny Wong shows the "level of concern" Australia has about what is occurring. The joint statement claims the Ministers have "incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", but the Albanese Government is already facing criticism from the US and Israel — as well as closer to home. And ex-Greens Senator Dorinda Cox has accused her former party of a "toxic culture" and racism, in an explosive resignation letter. It comes just a week after she defected from the Greens to Labor. Patricia Karvelas and David Speers break it all down on Politics Now. Got a burning question? Got a burning political query? Send a short voice recording to PK and Fran for Question Time at thepartyroom@
