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NYC Mayoral Hopeful Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide’ in Gaza During Sit-Down Interview With Hamas Apologist
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza during an interview with controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has an extensive history of repudiating the Jewish state himself.
On Monday, Piker released a recorded interview with Mamdani, in which the pair discussed a litany of municipal issues ranging from housing to grocery prices. During the discussion, Piker asked Mamdani how he is “feeling” about Israel and whether he believes the Jewish state is “good [or] bad.”
Mamdani responded that Israel is doing “not well at all” and that “many New Yorkers” are “rightfully horrified by a genocide that they have seen over 16 months of.” He argued that Israel has denied Palestinians “universal human rights.”
“I think that any politics worth its salt has to be one that is universal that doesn’t draw an exception, and in this country, we’ve drawn exceptions for far too long, especially when it comes to the application of [human rights] to Palestinians,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani then accused his mayoral opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, of smearing activism for Palestinian human rights as “antisemitism.” He also accused Cuomo of “weaponizing” claims of antisemitism for political advantage.
“I think that what’s so frustrating about this is he’s taking a real crisis of antisemitism in our city and he’s weaponizing it purely for personal gain,” Mamdani said, blasting Cuomo for attempting “to mischaracterize any New Yorker standing up to say that every single person deserves freedom and justice [of antisemitism.]”
Since jumping into the race for New York City mayor, Cuomo has attempted to draw a contrast with his opponents by positioning himself as a stalwart defender of Israel, repeatedly repudiating other candidates for showing insufficient support to the Jewish state.
“It’s very simple: anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” Cuomo said during a speech at West Side Institutional Synagogue in Manhattan.
Cuomo has also declared antisemitism as “the most serious and the most important issue” for his campaign and, “in many ways, the toughest issue facing the city of New York and the country.”
The New York City Police Department released data last week showing that Jews in the city were victims of more hate crimes in March than any other group. The data continues a trend that has persisted for several years and concurred with a rise in antisemitic incidents across the US.
Mamdani’s decision to agree to an interview with Piker may raise additional questions among Jewish New Yorkers regarding the firebrand progressive’s commitment to protecting the Jewish community. Piker, a streamer with an extensive history of castigating Israel as an “apartheid state” and rationalizing atrocities committed against its civilians, has defended antisemitic terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as “resistance” organizations.
Meanwhile, Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly, 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 as the first step to its eventual destruction. That same year, he also called for prohibiting New York lawmakers from visiting Israel, asserting that “every elected [official] must be pressured to stand with Palestinians.” 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, accusing the Jewish state of “war crimes” against Palestinians.
On Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning “[Israeli 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.
Mamdani then said that Israel can only secure its long-term safety by “ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.” Five days later, he further criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas-led massacres, saying that “we are on the brink of a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza right now.”
According to a recent poll from Data For Progress, Cuomo currently leads the New York City mayoral race with a commanding 39 percent of the vote. Mamdani sits in second place with 15 percent of the vote, according to the pollster.
The post NYC Mayoral Hopeful Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide’ in Gaza During Sit-Down Interview With Hamas Apologist first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.”
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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.
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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.