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Live from New York: It’s Antisemitism, with Zohran Mamdani
Contrary to what some may believe, we’re not here to critique New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for his grating stint as a rapper.
What’s more troubling is the New York Democratic mayoral primary results last week. There are currently massive efforts to unearth just who Mamdani is behind the cool millennial-politician facade. Here’s what you need to know:
Who’s the Real Zohran Mamdani?
Mamdani, an antisemitic and anti-Israel progressive, is gaslighting the Jews of New York by lying to their faces when evidence of his true stances are plentiful, public, and loud. This clip tells you all you need to know:
Now, even though we aren’t going to make fun of Mamdani for trying his hand at an illustrious F-list rap career, we may as well criticize some antisemitic elements present in his songs.
One example is Salaam, released in 2017. In it, Mamdani praises the Holy Land 5, who were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas through their organization. Here is what Canary Mission revealed:
𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘: In an unearthed rap song, NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani praised five convicted terror funders.
– The five funneled $12M to Hamas
– Mamdani sent his “love” to them
– Track released in 2017 also called to tear down the U.S. border wall pic.twitter.com/6nxRsbn7tv— Canary Mission (@canarymission) June 20, 2025
Although his political platform seemed to focus on economic policies, The Times of Israel reported that Mamdani declared that the Palestinian cause is “central to his identity and the reason he got into politics” during his victory rally this week. It’s food for thought, to say the least.
Mamdani’s Antisemitic Beliefs Run Deep
While Mamdani is a classic progressive who aligns with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), his Israel stances are more extreme and deeply ingrained than both her and the typical Qatari-funded university club members he went to school with.
Both of his parents are staunch and well-known anti-Israel activists.
His father, Professor Mahmood Mamdani of Columbia University, is known, according to Canary Mission, to be anti-Israel and consumed with the topic of “colonialism.” Their report also revealed his backing of violent resistance movements, and unsurprisingly, his participation in the 2024 encampment protests.
He was also a featured speaker at one of Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies (CPS) BDS events — equating South African Apartheid to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling to dismantle Israel as a Jewish state.
His mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, also has a history of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) support, including rejecting an invitation to be a guest of honor at the Haifa International Film Festival in 2013. Canary Mission revealed she is a signatory on an open letter that demanded that Israeli actress Gal Gadot be banned from the Oscars this year.
With roots so deep, it isn’t surprising that Mamdani has such hateful views.
Redefining Antisemitism to Please Jew Haters
Media outlets have taken a special interest in Mamdani — plastering heroic profiles of him everywhere. The New York Times, in particular, has taken quite the delusional approach in “The Attacks on Zohran Mamdani Show That We Need a New Understanding of Antisemitism.”
For one, Masha Gessen attempted to redefine what an antisemitic attack is:
There’s plenty of delusional stuff in this @nytimes op-ed, “Antisemitism Isn’t What People Think It Is.”
But questioning whether the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC, and the attack on a rally in Boulder, Colorado, are antisemitic might just top it all. pic.twitter.com/Vbi3nA7wI1
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 24, 2025
Another excerpt describes the unfortunate xenophobia Mamdani has had to deal with, and how broken up he is about being called an antisemite:
When I spoke to Mamdani on the phone a couple of days after that press conference, it became clear to me that there is another reason he chokes up: It’s hard to keep defending yourself against a false accusation.
While there are undoubtedly extremists who went too far in their criticism of him, it is legitimate to say that Mamdani is antisemitic. The mere fact that he praises Hamas terror funders, marched with Hamas supporters, won’t denounce the chant “globalize the intifada” (because he says it is simply a coin of the Palestinian struggle), and decided (though he has no right to) that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, proves that.
Perhaps Mamdani himself as a non-Jew does not truly understand the significance of all this like a Jew would, but it is ignorant and appalling for a mayoral hopeful of the US city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel to ignore why antisemitism is at an all time high, and more importantly, how anti-Israel rhetoric creates that environment. He’s part of the problem.
Op-Eds are meant for opinions, but facts are facts, and those do not change, no matter how you try to twist them or ignore vital context.
All in all, Mamdani attempts to cover for his past and his current ties by saying that he will fight antisemitism, but uses contradictory language out of the other side of his mouth.
Suffice it to say, what he believes is antisemitism is irrelevant, because he has no right to redefine it. Jews of New York know better, and hopefully, the majority of non-Jewish New Yorkers will wake up before it’s too late.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Live from New York: It’s Antisemitism, with Zohran Mamdani first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Strikes Hamas Leadership in Qatar Amid Gaza War

A damaged building, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, according to an Israeli official, in Doha, Qatar, Sept. 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Israel has carried out a strike targeting Hamas leadership in Qatar, marking an expansion of Jerusalem’s efforts to dismantle the Palestinian terrorist group as the war in Gaza continues.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet security agency confirmed a “precise strike” in Doha targeting Hamas’s senior leadership, who orchestrated the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel and directed the Islamist group’s operations for years.
“The IDF and ISA [Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet] will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre,” the two organizations said in a statement.
The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.
For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre, and…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 9, 2025
According to circulating media reports, senior Hamas officials — including leader Khalil al-Hayya — were targeted in the strike in Doha, though their deaths have not been confirmed.
A Hamas spokesperson said the group’s negotiating team was also targeted in the attack.
In its statement, the IDF assured that precautions were taken to limit civilian harm ahead of the strike, “including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.”
Qatar’s Interior Ministry said a member of the country’s Internal Security Force was killed and that other security personnel were injured.
Shortly after Israel claimed responsibility for the attack, Qatar denounced the operation, warning that “it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty.”
“The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha,” Majed al-Ansari, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.
“This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar,” he continued.
The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha. This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,…
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) September 9, 2025
Alongside the United States and other regional powers, Qatar has served as a ceasefire mediator during the nearly two-year Gaza conflict, facilitating indirect negotiations between the Jewish state and Hamas.
However, Doha has also backed the Palestinian terrorist group for years, providing Hamas with money and diplomatic support while hosting and sheltering its top leadership.
According to media reports, Washington, which officially classifies Qatar as a “major non-NATO ally,” knew about the strike beforehand and gave it the green light, though the US did not participate in carrying it out.
The US Embassy in Doha issued a shelter-in-place order for all American citizens.
Earlier this year, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism Policy released a report exposing the extent of Qatar’s far-reaching financial entanglements within American institutions, shedding light on what experts described as a coordinated effort to influence US policy making and public opinion in Doha’s favor. The findings showed that Qatar has attempted to expand its soft power in the US by spending $33.4 billion on business and real estate projects, over $6 billion on universities, and $72 million on American lobbyists since 2012.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed they had ordered security agencies to target Hamas leadership following attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza.
They said the strike targeted Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 atrocities, Monday’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem, which left six Israelis dead and several more injured, and a separate attack on an Israeli tank in northern Gaza that killed four soldiers
Yesterday, after the murderous attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu directed all security elements to prepare for the possibility of striking the Hamas leadership. The Defense Minister fully supported this initiative.https://t.co/dQDySUqQJv
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 9, 2025
This latest strike came just two days after the Trump administration unveiled its newest proposals for a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel accepted the new deal, which calls for the release of all remaining hostages and the disarmament of Hamas.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump gave Hamas what he called a “last warning” to agree to this latest proposal.
The terrorist group said it was ready to negotiate the release of all remaining Israeli hostages still held in the war-torn enclave in exchange for “a clear declaration to end the war, a full withdrawal from Gaza, and the formation of a committee of Palestinian independents to manage Gaza.”
However, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said on Monday that the group will not accept disarmament — one of Israel’s core demands for ending the war, thus seemingly rejecting Trump’s ceasefire plan for Gaza.
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‘No Basis in Truth’: Authorities Reject Claim by Gaza-Bound Flotilla That Boat Struck by Drone at Tunisian Port

A Global Sumud flotilla vessel floats in the waters as Tunisian Maritime National Guard boats conduct an inspection in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, Sept. 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Tunisian authorities have rejected as false a claim by the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) for Gaza that one of its main boats was struck on Tuesday by a drone at a port in Tunisia.
Tunisia’s interior ministry said that reports of a drone hitting a boat at its Sidi Bou Said port “have no basis in truth,” and that a fire broke out on the vessel itself. The flotilla had said that all six passengers and crew were safe despite the alleged strike.
The Portuguese-flagged boat, carrying the flotilla‘s steering committee, sustained fire damage to its main deck and below-deck storage, the GSF said in a statement.
In tandem with the denial from Tunisian authorities, video circulated on social media apparently showing that the fire was caused by a crew member misfiring a flare that landed back on the boat, not by a drone.
BREAKING: New footage from Greta’s boat shows a crew member misfiring a flare, which lands back on the boat.
These people lie for sport. There was never any drone. pic.twitter.com/GSSSvjy23I
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) September 9, 2025
The flotilla is an international initiative seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza using civilian boats supported by delegations from 44 countries, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Portuguese left-wing politician Mariana Mortagua.
A video posted by the GSF on X purportedly showed the moment “the Family Boat was struck from above,” capturing a luminous flying object hitting the vessel with smoke rising soon after.
After the incident, dozens of people gathered outside the Sidi Bou Said port, where the flotilla‘s boats were located at the time, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine,” a Reuters witness said.
Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching the internationally desgnated terrorist group.
The blockade has remained in place through the current war, which began when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages.
In June, Israeli naval forces boarded and seized a British-flagged yacht carrying Thunberg, among others. Israel dismissed the aid ship as a propaganda stunt in support of Hamas.
The GSF also said an investigation into the drone attack was underway and its results would be released once available.
“Acts of aggression aimed at intimidating and derailing our mission will not deter us. Our peaceful mission to break the siege on Gaza and stand in solidarity with its people continues with determination and resolve,” the GSF said.
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, who was at the port, told Reuters: “We do not know who carried out the attack, but we would not be surprised if it was Israel. If confirmed, it is an attack against Tunisian sovereignty.”
Albanese has been widely accused by critics of using her position to denigrate Israel and justify Hamas’s use of terrorism against Israelis.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side.
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Britain Concludes Israel Not Committing Genocide in Gaza

A picture released by the Israeli Army says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this handout image released April 2, 2025. Photo: Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
Britain has concluded that Israel is not committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza but criticized “utterly appalling” civilian suffering there, in a government letter, ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Israeli president.
Israel has been accused of perpetrating genocide in Gaza despite its military campaign there targeting the ruling terrorist group Hamas, which openly seeks the Jewish state’s destruction and started the current war with its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israeli communities.
Jerusalem rejects the accusation, citing its right to self-defense following the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages.
Israel also says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
Starmer is due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a leader who has a largely ceremonial role, at Downing Street on Wednesday, his spokesperson said.
The Gaza war has strained Britain-Israel relations. The Israeli government is enraged by Britain‘s plan to recognize a Palestinian state and block Israeli officials from attending its biggest defense trade show this week.
Starmer is facing criticism from some of his Labour lawmakers for agreeing to meet Herzog.
Asked whether the government’s legal duty to prevent genocide had been triggered, David Lammy, Britain‘s foreign minister until Friday, wrote in a Sept. 1 letter to a parliamentary committee that the government had carefully considered the risk of genocide.
“As per the Genocide Convention, the crime of genocide occurs only where there is specific ‘intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,’” he said in the letter seen by Reuters.
“The government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent.”
Lammy was foreign secretary from mid-2024 until Friday when he was replaced by Yvette Cooper and appointed deputy prime minister as part of a reshuffle.
His letter added: “The high civilian casualties, including women and children, and the extensive destruction in Gaza, are utterly appalling. Israel must do much more to prevent and alleviate the suffering that this conflict is causing.”
The long-held British government position has been that genocide should be determined by courts.