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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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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.