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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.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.