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Teens push back on school mascots that celebrate persecutors of Jews
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with teens across the world to report on issues that impact their lives.
(JTA) — The New Braunfels Unicorns. The Gabbs Tarantulas. The Fisher Bunnies. High school mascots like these may encourage spirit and community, but other schools’ mascots have been called out in recent years for being racist and insensitive, especially to Native Americans and the descendants of the enslaved.
And some mascots can be perceived as antisemitic as well. In 2018, the name of the student publication at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Center Valley, New York was changed from “The Crusader” to “The Wire” when its editorial staff spoke up against what had been the public school’s long-time mascot.
For many Christians, the medieval crusades are associated with European armies’ attempts to recapture the Holy Land and ensure safety for Christian pilgrims visiting sacred sites. And yet they were also occasions for massive outbreaks of antisemitism, like the 1190 massacre of Jews in Norwich near England’s eastern coast. Muslims have complained that glorifying crusaders is Islamophobic.
In their letter to the principal at Monroe-Woodbury High asking for a change, students also noted that the Ku Klux Klan’s official publication is known as “The Crusader.”
“The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist organization that uses fear, hatred and violence to achieve its goals; we do not wish to be associated with this group in any way,” the students wrote. “We want our school’s student publication to be a place where all students will feel comfortable sharing their ideas and we would like our publication to be a place where all students feel comfortable reading those ideas.”
Hailey Lanari, a junior at Monroe-Woodbury, says fellow students are ignorant of how Crusaders might be seen as antisemitic. “I don’t think that people are really aware of it,” she said. “I think it kind of just normalizes certain things. I think it just makes it normal for us to be like, ‘Yeah, it was this really bad thing, but it’s ok cause it’s just our school’s mascot.’”
She doesn’t trust that the school would take public steps to address any complaints, and suggests that is why “The Wire” hasn’t written about the mascot in the context of the school. There was, however, a statement released when the paper changed its name.
Out of 231 high schools with “Crusaders” as their mascots, 208 of them are Catholic with little to no Jewish populations, according to MasseyRatings, a mascots database.
Other schools, like the Latin School of Chicago, use “Roman” as their mascot, a reference to the glories of the Roman Empire. But that same empire targeted Jews and destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. “As someone who finds themselves very involved with the community and plays a lot of sports, it is just something I have come to not enjoy so much,” said Lauren Altman, a student at Latin School and a head of the Jewish Student Connection club.
“Latin School was created to follow this Latin model which is very much about celebrating what is referred to as a Western Civilization,” Latin history teacher Dr. Matthew June said. He argues that the mascot isn’t problematic from a religious standpoint because the two groups clashed politically, not necessarily relating to religion. The destruction of the Second Temple predates the empire’s embrace of Christianity, when attitudes towards Judaism itself became more hostile.
In the past 12 years, 79 schools with Native American mascots across the country changed their mascots, according to The National Congress of American Indians. The NCAI says Native American mascots “remind Native youth of the limited ways in which others see them” and “undermine the ability of Native nations and people to portray themselves accurately as distinct and diverse cultures.”
The mascot of the Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago was the “Indian” for over a century before the local school council voted unanimously to change it in the summer of 2020 because of its stereotyping of Native Americans. Prior to the start of the current school year, the school officially rebranded to the Champions.
The Latin School of Chicago adopted its mascot, the Roman, in 1950 based on the suggestion of a sports writer from the Chicago Daily News, according to the school’s archivist, Teresa Sutter. Since then, one of the few conversations about the term occurred nine years ago, when some complained that the symbol was white and gendered.
But those aren’t the only issues with the Roman. The Romans are accused of crucifying Jesus, destroying the Second Temple and turning from a republic to an empire, said Dr. Jeffrey Ellison, a teacher of the Holocaust and the history of antisemitism at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in Chicago and a former teacher at Latin School. He suggests schools ask themselves, “Is this the symbol that we want to be using to represent us? [The Romans] were just brutal.”
Some mascots, like the Trevians of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Il., aren’t seen as obviously offensive, and are not being discussed in schools. The mascot wears the Roman-era costume of a soldier from Trier, a town in present-day Germany where Jews were persecuted by crusaders and ostracized repeatedly beginning as early as the third century.
The mascot and logo of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Il., is based on a soldier from Trier, a town in present-day Germany.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever made that connection before,” said Kimberly Hafron, the Hebrew teacher at New Trier. “They’re just this weird mascot.”
Hafron was hesitant to bring the issue to students, because she didn’t want to cause commotion in the community. “I think it would cause one of those ruckus’ where people are like, ‘Oh my God, is there latent antisemitism that we don’t know about?’” she said. “If the people who they could potentially offend don’t have any idea they’re being offended, then the question is, is it offensive?”
For Stella Dale, a Hebrew student at New Trier, the answer is no. “As a Jewish woman, I do not condone antisemitism in any form, but I do think that the mascot itself is not an antisemitic” symbol, Dale, 17, said. “I think that this extension of the Romans destroying the temple is obviously inappropriate, but in my day-to-day life, I really have no hate with the Trevian.”
Overall, because so few students at schools like Monroe-Woodbury and New Trier are aware of the significance of their schools’ mascots, it rarely affects feelings of inclusion at school.
At Latin, however, the Roman mascot does impact a sense of belonging at the school for some Jewish students. Altman said, “If you say you are a Latin Roman, and the Romans did try to kill the Jews, that is going against yourself — saying I am representing somebody who tried to kill my group.”
The Anti-Defamation League has not gotten any reports of discomfort regarding these types of mascots, according to Midwest Regional Director David Goldenberg. “We have spoken out in support of fighting prejudice and discrimination and hurtful stereotypes particularly in the professional sports arena,” Goldenberg said. “We do think it’s important to move away from the use of hurtful and offensive names, mascots and logos.”
The ADL has not, however, taken action regarding mascots like the Crusaders, the Romans, or the Trevians. Because no complaints have been filed on this subject, the ADL has not acted on the matter.
Goldenberg added, “I think one of the things that we are looking [at is] not necessarily the name of a mascot, but we would look at how certain images are adopted by extremist groups or that become extremist symbols.”
“I think there is a real good opportunity to think about what it is that we want to bind us together.” Dr. Ellison said. “What’s that symbol?”
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The post Teens push back on school mascots that celebrate persecutors of Jews appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Feds charge man with organizing synagogue attacks in Europe and NYC on behalf of Iran
(JTA) — An Iraqi man who was recently arrested in Turkey has been charged with plotting an array of attacks against Jewish targets, including on a synagogue in New York City, in response to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
A criminal complaint that was unsealed on Friday claims that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, is a commander in the Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah that functions as a proxy for Iran. The complaint was unsealed when al-Saadi appeared in federal court in Manhattan.
The complaint alleges that al-Saadi is responsible in part for organizing the attacks in Europe that have been claimed by a new group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. It marks the first major disclosure of intelligence information tying the group directly to the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and includes multiple photographs of al-Saadi meeting in person with IRGC leaders.
Attacks that al-Saadi organized include 18 in Europe that Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya publicly claimed, as well as the stabbing of two Jews in London last month, the complaint alleges. He also organized multiple attacks in Canada that were carried out and plotted others that did not take place, the complaint alleged.
Al-Saadi is charged with six crimes, including conspiracy to provide support for acts of terror and conspiracy to provide support for a foreign terrorist organization. (The Trump administration declared the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2019.) He did not speak during his first court appearance on Friday, according to The New York Times, which reported that his attorney called him “a political prisoner and prisoner of war.”
“As alleged in the complaint, Al-Saadi directed and urged others to attack U.S. and Israeli interests and to kill Americans and Jews in the U.S. and abroad, and in doing so advance the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Friday. “These charges show American law enforcement will never let such evil go unchecked and will use all tools to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations and their leaders.”
The incidents targeting Jews came amid warnings that Iran, which has a long record of organizing terror attacks abroad, would retaliate against the United States, Israel and Jews around the world.
The complaint, reflecting a sworn affidavit from Kathryn McDonald, an FBI special agent, says al-Saadi offered to pay online contacts $10,000 to stage attacks on U.S. Jewish targets.
According to the criminal complaint, al-Saadi sent a $3,000 down payment in cryptocurrency to an agent who was posing as someone willing to stage attacks on Jewish targets in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, in April.
Al-Saadi allegedly told the agent that “things are working for us here” in Europe but that he was looking for more assistance in the United States and Canada. He shared a picture of what the complaint says is a “prominent Jewish synagogue” in New York and said he had selected it as a target because it supported “the right for Israel to exist.” The agent initially agreed to stage an attack but stopped communicating with al-Saadi after sending a picture showing that the synagogue was guarded by police officers.
The Community Security Initiative, a group coordinating security for Jews in New York, sent a “community security bulletin” on Friday after al-Saadi appeared in federal court in Manhattan, saying that the arrest did not come as a surprise.
“CSI has been in contact with FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York since April 2026 regarding this plot, and they have been keeping us apprised as events have evolved,” CEO Mitchell Silber said in the bulletin. He added, “At this time, we are not at liberty to disclose the targeted location.”
Kataib Hezbollah is the group that abducted and held a Russian-Israeli Princeton University researcher, Elizabeth Tsurkov, for more than two years until September. Following the revelation of al-Saadi’s arrest, she praised the FBI agents who worked the case, including one who also investigated her kidnapping.
“This ginger angel kept doggedly working my case because she knew I needed her and she knew that solving the case would help US national security interests. Indeed, owing to the incredible stupidity of my torturers, they provided me with a plethora of information about their operations, which I happily provided to the FBI after my release,” Tsurkov tweeted. “The American people are lucky to have such dedicated agents helping to keep them safe.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Feds charge man with organizing synagogue attacks in Europe and NYC on behalf of Iran appeared first on The Forward.
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A floating wooden synagogue at the 2026 Venice Biennale
דאָס איז איינער פֿון אַ סעריע קורצע אַרטיקלען אָנגעשריבן אױף אַ רעלאַטיװ גרינגן ייִדיש און געצילעװעט אױף סטודענטן. די מחברטע איז אַלײן אַ ייִדיש־סטודענטקע. דאָ קען מען לײענען די פֿריִערדיקע אַרטיקלען אין דער סעריע.
הײַיאָר צום דריטן מאָל לאָזט זיך ייִדיש באַמערקן בײַ דער באַרימטער אױסשטעלונג אין ווענעציע, איטאַליע — „װענעציער ביענאַלײ“, װאָס האָט זיך אָנגעהויבן דעם 9סטן מײַ און װעט זיך ענדיקן דעם 22סטן נאָװעמבער. ייִדיש שפּילט נישט קײן אָפֿיציעלע ראָלע אין דער אױסשטעלונג, און דאָס איז טאַקע דער עיקר. די אױסשטעלונג ווערט אָרגאַניזירט לויט לענדער, און אַװדאי איז ייִדיש קײן מאָל נישט געװען די הויפּטשפּראַך פֿון קײן לאַנד.
ייִדיש מאַכט אַ רושם בײַם ביענאַלײ אַ דאַנק דעם „ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן“, װאָס איז אױסגעטראַכט געװאָרן אין 2022 פֿון דער קוראַטאָרשע מאַריע װײַץ און דעם קינסטלער יעװגעני פֿיקס. דער „פּאַװיליאָן“ איז אַ סעריע אױסשטעלונגען און אױפֿטריטן װאָס קומען פֿאָר אין עטלעכע ערטער איבער װענעציע, אַרום די ראַנדן פֿון דער אָפֿיציעלער ביענאַלײ.
דאָס װאָרט „פּאַװיליאָן“ אין „ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן“ איז אַן איראָנישער קאָמענטאַר אױף די פֿיזישע פּאַװיליאָנען װאָס דער ביענאַלײ גיט צו 100 לענדער אין 2026, כּדי אױסצושטעלן אַ גאַמע קונסטװערק. אין קאָנטראַסט איז דער ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן „געבױט“ אין גאַנצן פֿון אידעען.
אין זומער 2025 האָב איך אינטערװיויִרט װײַץ און פֿיקס װעגן דעם ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן, װאָס איז דעמאָלט בײַגעװען בײַם ביענאַלײ. אין אונדזער אינטערװיו האָבן װײַץ און פֿיקס דערקלערט די צילן פֿונעם פּאַװיליאָן: בקיצור װילן זײ זײַן אין סתּירה מיטן ביענאַלײס טראָפּ אױף לענדער און נאַציאָנאַליזם, װאָס שליסט אױס די ייִדישע קולטור און אַנדערע מינאָריטעט־קולטורן װאָס זענען באַזירט אױף שפּראַכן.
װײַץ און פֿיקס, און די קינסטלער װאָס אַרבעטן מיט זײ, זאָגן אױך אָפּ די באַגריפֿן װאָס באַגלײטן אַ פֿאָקוס אױף לענדער. אַנשטאָט גרענעצן, פֿאַראינטערעסירן זײ זיך מיטן קולטורעלן קאָנטאַקט און צונױפֿשמעלץ. דערמיט שפּיגלען זײ אָפּ די דערפֿאַרונגען פֿון דורות ייִדיש־רעדערס, װאָס האָבן אָפֿט געװױנט װי דרױסנדיקע אין דער גלאָבאַלער סיסטעם פֿון לענדער. די קולטור װאָס די דאָזיקע ייִדיש־רעדערס האָבן געשאַפֿן, ספּעציעל אינעם ערשטן העלפֿט פֿונעם 20סטן יאָרהונדערט, איז געװען טיף פֿאַרװאָרצלט אין ייִדישע טראַדיציעס — אָבער אױך היבריד און צופּאַסיק. זי האָט בכּיוון אַרײַנגעמישט השפּעות פֿון פֿאַרשײדענע שפּראַכן, אידענטיטעטן און קולטורעלע באַװעגונגען.
אָט דער דאָזיקער גײַסט פֿון אָפֿנקײט און צופּאַסיקײט — פֿון די מעגלעכקײטן פֿון פֿליסיקע גרענעצן — האָט אינספּירירט די ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַװיליאָנען פֿון 2022 און 2025, און נאָך אַ מאָל אין 2026.
פֿון איצט ביזן 16טן סעפּטעמבער װעט דער ייִדיש־פּאַװיליאָן אױסשטעלן „די װערטער װאָס פּאַסן זיך צו מײַן מױל“. ער געפֿינט זיך אין דרײַ ערטער אַרום װענעציע, אַרײַננעמדיק אין דער אַלטער ייִדישער געטאָ. זי באַשטײט פֿון פֿיר טײלן, װאָס פֿאַרנעמען זיך אַלע מיט דער „איבערזעצונג“, סײַ צװישן שפּראַכן סײַ צװישן קולטורן און קאָנטעקסטן:
- „איך בין נישט מסכּים“, פֿון אַרנדט בעק. דער פּראָיעקט פֿאָרשט אױס, דורך צײכענונגען און קאָלאַזש־פּאָסטקאַרטלעך, דאָס לעבן פֿון דער ייִדיש־רעדנדיקער אַנאַרכיסטקע מילי װיטקאָפּ (1877־1955), װאָס איז געבױרן געװאָרן אין אוקראַיִנע און האָט געאַרבעט מערסטנס אין לאָנדאָן. בעק באַזינגט אױף ייִדיש און אַנדערע שפּראַכן װיטקאָפּס איבערגעגעבנקײט צו אַרבעטער־ און מענטשנרעכט.
- „לידער פֿאַר טײַכן“, פֿון ליליאַנאַ פֿאַרבער. דאָס קונסטװערק איז באַזירט אױף ייִדישע לידער װעגן טײַכן, װאָס שטאַמען פֿון יזכּור־ביכער — די בענד געשאַפֿן נאָכן חורבן צו פֿאַראײביקן דעם אָנדענק פֿון די פֿאַרטיליקטע ייִדישע שטעט און שטעטלעך. אין אַ סעריע גראַפֿישע װערק האָט פֿאַרבער אַראַנזשירט די װערטער פֿון יעדן ליד כּדי נאָכצופֿאָלגן די קאָנטורן פֿונעם טײַך, װאָס דאָס ליד באַשרײַבט.
- ליולינקע, מײַן פֿײגעלע, פֿון מאַשאַ שפּרײַזער. דער פּראָיעקט באַשטײט פֿון פֿאַרשײדענע אַלטע שטוב־טעקסטילן אַזױ װי ציכלעך און טיכלעך, מיט װערטער פֿון ייִדישע לידער געמאָלט אױף זײ. די טעקסטילן האָט מען פֿריִער געצירעװעט. מסתּמא האָבן דאָס פֿרױען געטאָן. דער טיטל פֿונעם װערק פֿאַררופֿט זיך אױף אַ ייִדיש װיגליד. בײַנאַנד מיט די טעקסטילן געפֿינען זיך בײַשפּילן פֿון װענעציער שפּיצן (דאָס שאַפֿן פּרעכטיקע שפּיצן איז אַ שטאָט־טראַדיציע). צוזאַמען דערמאָנען די אָביעקטן אין װײַבערשער אַרבעט, און אין װײַבערשע לעבנס און מעשׂיות.
- „אַלטמאָדיש“, פֿון לײלאַ אַבדעלראַזאַק. די דאָזיקע װידעאָ־קונסט פֿאַרנעמט זיך מיט דער צוקונפֿט פֿון אַראַביש אין פּאַלעסטינע און ישׂראל. יעװגעני פֿיקס האָט דערקלערט׃ „פֿילשפּראַכיקײט איז געװען כאַראַקטעריסטיש פֿאַרן ייִדישן לעבן אין מיזרח־אײראָפּע, װוּ אַ סך געבױרענע ייִדיש־רעדערס האָבן פֿליסיק גערעדט אַנדערע שפּראַכן. אַבדעלראַזאַק װױנט אױך צװישן שפּראַכן — אַראַביש, העברעיִש און ענגליש — װאָס זענען אַלע אַ טײל פֿון איר פֿילזײַטיקער אידענטיטעט. איר קונסט פֿאָרשט אױס װי אַזױ די פּאָליטיק פֿון שפּראַך אין אַ פֿאַרשײדנאַרטיקער קולטור.“
דעם 16טן יולי װעט זיך עפֿענען „נבטעלע“ פֿון אַנאַ קאַמײַשאַן. בײַ דער דאָזיקער דרױסנדיקער אינסטאַלירונג (װאָס װערט פּרעזענטירט צוזאַמען מיטן ייִדישן מוזײ אין מאָנטרעאָל) װעט מען אױפֿהײבן אין דער לופֿט אַ גרױסן מאָדעל פֿון אַ הילצערנער שיל פֿון מיזרח־אײראָפּע. דער מאָדעל איז פֿול מיט העליום, און נאָר אַ דאַנק שטריק שװעבט ער נישט אַװעק. די שיל אינעם מאָדעל זיצט אױף אַ באַזע פֿון ריזיקע פֿעלדזן. אין דער שיל שײַנט אַ ליכט װאָס גײט קײן מאָל נישט אױס.
דער טיטל „נבטעלע“ שטאַמט פֿון אַ סלאַװיש װאָרט װאָס דערמאָנט אין סכּנה אָדער באַאומרויִקן זיך. ער פֿאַררופֿט זיך אױך אױף תּנכיש העברעיִש, װוּ „נבט“ מײנט „נאָענט אָנקוקן“. אַ „נבטעלע“, מיטן ייִדישן דימינוטיװ „-עלע“, איז עפּעס װײכער װי בײדע װערטער — אָבער אױך צװײטײַטשיק.
אין „נבטעלע“ זעט מען אַ סך סתּירות, אַזױ װי דעם קאָנטראַסט צװישן דעם װאָג פֿון אַ בנין װאָס זיצט אױף פֿעלדזן, און דער אָנװאָגיקײט פֿונעם מאָדעל אַלײן; און אױך צװישן דעם צער צוליב דער פֿאַרטיליקונג פֿון אַלע הילצערנע שילן פֿון די נאַציס, און דער האָפֿענונג סימבאָליזירט פֿונעם אײביקן ליכט אין דער שיל. צי איז די שיל אַרױסגעריסן געװאָרן פֿון דער אַלטער הײם, אָדער טראָגט זי די הײם מיט איר?
מען דאַרף אױך דערמאָנען אַ טײל פֿונעם ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַװיליאָן װאָס האָט זיך שױן געענדיקט. בעת די ערשטע טעג פֿונעם ביענאַלײ האָט עליאַנאַ פּליסקין דזשײקאָבס אױסגעפֿירט אין עפֿנטלעכע ערטער אַרום װענעציע איר „טאַנצן צװישן נאַ און נאַד“. זי האָט געאַנצט און געזונגען ייִדישע לידער װעגן װאָגלעניש און גלות — טײלװײַז אױפֿן אָריגינעל ייִדיש און טײלװײַז איבערגעזעצט אױף אַנדערע שפּראַכן.
דאָס פּרעזענטירן דעם ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן בײַ דער װענעציער ביענאַלײ איז גאָר אַ כּדאַייִקע אונטערנעמונג, װאָס ציט דעם אױפֿמערק אױף ייִדיש און ייִדישער קולטור בעת זײער אַ װיכטיקער אינטערנאַציאָנאַלער אױסשטעלונג. דער ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן איז אָבער אױך טײַער. אַלע צושטײַערס זענען קריטיש, סײַ הײַיאָר סײַ פֿאַר דער צוקונפֿט. אױב איר קענט העלפֿן מיט אַ צושטײַער קענט איר קװעטשן דאָ.
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Mamdani Nakba Day video prompts pushback from Jewish leaders amid rising tensions
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani once again angered many Jewish New Yorkers, already uneasy about his criticism of Israel, after posting a video on Friday made by his City Hall team marking Nakba Day, which remembers the displacement of thousands of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948. “Nakba” means “catastrophe” in Arabic.
Mamdani, who rose to power aligned with pro-Palestinian activism, has been unapologetic about his anti-Zionist views and signaled they would shape his tenure. The Jewish community overwhelmingly did not support his election. Mamdani has supported efforts to divest from Israel Bonds and has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state — all this reversing years of steadfast support of Israel by mayors of New York City, which has about 1 million Jewish residents. While people who identify as Palestinians number just a few thousand in official records, about 150,000 New Yorkers told the last Census that they hailed from the Mideast, excluding Israel.
The post drew fierce backlash from Jewish leaders, who accused Mamdani of promoting a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while ignoring Israel’s history and alienating the many New Yorkers who have connections to Israel.
The four-minute video featured New Yorker Inea Bushnaq, who recounted her experience as her family fled their home in East Jerusalem because “the Zionists were coming into Jerusalem,” and moved to Nablus. It had 10 million views on the social media platform X by Sunday evening, one of multiple platforms where it was posted on the official NYC Mayor’s Office accounts.
Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed.
Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us… pic.twitter.com/z2PBOaJq5Z
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 15, 2026
Olivia Becker, Mamdani’s video director, who filmed the interview, reposted supportive messages on X from allies of the mayor, highlighting the significance of his becoming the first New York City mayor to publicly commemorate Nakba Day.
Many Israelis argue that the displacement of Palestinians occurred in the context of the war launched by neighboring Arab states and Palestinian groups against the newly declared State of Israel, while some progressive Jewish groups and pro-Palestinian advocates say the Palestinian experience and the continued statelessness of millions of Palestinians should also be publicly acknowledged. Jewish leaders also noted that Mamdani’s video ignored the massacre of Jews pre-state and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Middle Eastern countries. Many New Yorkers and Israelis are themselves descendants of Jews who were expelled or forced to flee Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria and Yemen.
Yaacov Behrman, a Chabad-Lubavitch activist in Brooklyn — who has appeared with Mamdani and attended a roundtable discussion with Orthodox leaders at City Hall — harshly criticized the mayor for platforming a “dishonest characterization” of history. “The tweet’s one sided narrative deepens division instead of advancing peace, coexistence, and understanding, and it should never have been posted by the mayor of New York City,” Behrman said.
Tony Award-winning actor Ari’el Stachel, whose father immigrated to Israel from Yemen, mocked Mamdani’s muddled response to rising antisemitism in an Instagram satire in which he struggles to say “I am outraged by antisemitism” — but eagerly looks forward to releasing the Nakba Day video.
A City Hall spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry asking what civic purpose was served by using city resources and the mayor’s official account to post the video.
The video prompted the latest clash between Mamdani and major Jewish and Zionist organizations over Israel-related issues. Last month, Mamdani vetoed a City Council bill requiring safety plans for protests near schools, while allowing a separate measure protecting houses of worship to become law without his signature. In January, Jewish leaders criticized his delayed response to a protest in which demonstrators chanted pro-Hamas slogans. Mamdani also faced backlash from Zionist Jewish organizations on his first day in office after revoking executive orders tied to antisemitism and campus protests.
Mamdani came under fire during the mayoral race last year for defending the slogan “globalize the intifada,” used by some at the pro-Palestinian protests and perceived by many as a call for violence against Jews.
Mamdani’s Jewish Heritage reception
Mamdani is set to host Jewish leaders and activists at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, on Monday to mark Jewish American Heritage Month. The annual event has been programmed by Mamdani’s team as a celebration in honor of the Shavuot holiday, with a dairy menu.
Former Assemblyman Dov Hikind had urged Jewish leaders to boycott the event before Friday’s video was released. “You don’t have to go for cheese blintzes to Gracie Mansion,” Hikind said in an interview Sunday, arguing that attendance would legitimize Mamdani’s anti-Zionist posture. “I have no doubt that Mamdani is laughing all the way to the bank,” said Hikind, who now runs Americans Against Antisemitism. “I can tell these Jews that he would have greater respect for you if you started to believe in something.”
Hikind said he had been told that photographers from the New York Post planned to stage outside the mayoral residence on the East River to photograph attendees entering the event and that activists intend to circulate the images on social media to publicly shame participants.
For observers, the repeated episodes underscore the widening divide between a mayor who sees outspoken advocacy for Palestinians as part of his political identity and the largest Jewish community outside Israel, which increasingly views his approach to Israel and antisemitism as dismissive of its concerns despite his repeated promises to protect and engage with Jewish New Yorkers.
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