RSS
NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Confronted by Pro-Palestinian Activists for Saying Israel Has ‘Right to Exist’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
Pro-Palestinian advocates confronted New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani this week over his recent affirmation of Israel’s right to exist, repudiating the left-wing politician over his “hypocritical” stance on the Jewish state.
While speaking on Tuesday at the launch party for Acacia Magazine, a new pro-Palestinian publication, an irate attendee donning a keffiyeh — a traditional Arab headdress that has been repurposed after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel to symbolize support for the Palestinian cause— screamed at Mamdani for voicing support for Israel’s existence while simultaneously presenting himself as an advocate for the Palestinian cause.
“What do you say about politicians who constantly affirm Israel’s right to exist? Because people like me are constantly attacked by politicians for standing up for Palestine, and you are constantly defending the right for Israel to exist,” the man screamed at Mamdani, according to video of the incident posted to social media.
“My family is in Palestine right now, constantly under attack, and I’m hearing you say, ‘Free Palestine’ but also ‘Israel has a right to exist,’” the man continued.
The enraged attendee urged Mamdani not to “be hypocritical” by positioning himself as a pro-Palestinian advocate while continuing to support Israel’s existence.
“[Israel] does not have the right to exist! It does not have the right to exist! It’s not your land, to say it has the right to exist!” the man continued as audience members cheered around him.
Mamdani grinned and nodded along as the anonymous individual continued his diatribe against Israel’s existence.
Politicians like @ZohranKMamdani who seek our votes must be held accountable. Recently, he’s made the media rounds, repeatedly reaffirming “Israel’s right to exist” — a phrase long used to justify the ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing, and dehumanization of Palestinians. No… pic.twitter.com/l2f52yVtsj
— Anas Saleh انس صالح (@AnasSaleh_NYC) May 21, 2025
Anas Saleh, a pro-Palestinian activist, posted the video on X/Twitter with a caption questioning Mamdani’s commitment to the pro-Palestinian cause.
“No candidate, progressive or otherwise, gets a pass when they echo Zionist talking points that attempt [to] erase our suffering and deny our right to return, resist, and live in freedom,” Saleh wrote.
The confrontation came after Mamdani last Friday said, “I do support [Israel’s] right to exist as a state,” in response to a question.
NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, this morning, following story that he declined to sign onto Assembly resolutions recognizing Israel’s independence and condemning the Holocaust:
“I do support [Israel’s] right to exist as a state.” pic.twitter.com/OAmARZpyVX
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) May 16, 2025
Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly and candidate for New York City mayor, has made anti-Israel activism a cornerstone of his political career. A self-described democratic socialist, he has both advanced state legislation seeking to punish Israel and has labeled the Jewish state’s defensive military operations in Gaza a “genocide.”
In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement —an initiative which seeks to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel in the first step to its eventual destruction. In May 2023, Mamdani advanced the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” legislation which would ban charities from using tax-deductible donations to aid organizations that work in the West Bank.
On Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning Israel Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s declaration of war” and suggesting that Israel would use the terror attacks to justify committing a second “nakba.”
Many Palestinians and anti-Israel activists use the term “nakba,” or “catastrophe,” to refer to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
The post NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Confronted by Pro-Palestinian Activists for Saying Israel Has ‘Right to Exist’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.