NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will not attend an annual parade honoring Israel on Sunday, breaking with a decades-long political custom because of his support of Palestinian rights.
Though it has gone by different names over the years, the Israel Day parade has always been a must-attend event for mayors, governors and other political leaders eager to win over the throngs of flag-waving revelers who congregate on Fifth Avenue to celebrate the birth of the Jewish state in 1948.
Not so for Mamdani. Two weeks ago the mayor’s office released a video commemorating , an Arabic word for 鈥渃atastrophe鈥� that is used to describe the displacement of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel鈥檚 establishment.
鈥淚 said on the campaign trail that I wouldn鈥檛 be attending the parade, and I鈥檝e made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,鈥� Mamdani said at a news conference Thursday.
But he also promised a robust police presence to make sure it went off 鈥渟eamlessly and peacefully.鈥�
鈥淲hile I will not be attending, our administration has been preparing for weeks to ensure the parade is safe for all those who take part,” he said.
The city鈥檚 police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, told reporters she would attend.
鈥淚t is the mayor鈥檚 decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly,鈥� she said as she stood alongside Mamdani at police headquarters.
The mayor’s absence, though long expected, has given fresh fuel to opponents who view his criticism of the Israeli government as antisemitic.
Rabbi Marc Schneier, founding senior rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue on Long Island and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which advocates for better relationships between Jews and Muslims, called Mamdani鈥檚 decision to not attend the parade 鈥渁 slap in the face to all Jewish New Yorkers.鈥�
鈥淒o us a favor, stay home,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need you. We don鈥檛 want you.鈥�
Schneier also slammed Mamdani鈥檚 Nakba video as 鈥減ropaganda,鈥� echoing concerns from other Jewish leaders who said it excluded context about Jewish peoples鈥� displacement during the period.
The video, which appeared to be the first such recognition from a sitting New York City mayor, featured the story of a woman who was displaced at 9 years old, interspersed with text about the Nakba, as she described a feeling of missing home, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 the soft hills of Palestine that actually touched me.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e lived in different places, and I鈥檝e always been an outsider,鈥� said the woman, Inea Bushnaq.
Supporters of Israel were outraged, saying the video should have acknowledged the mass displacement of Jews from Muslim-majority countries or the role that the mass slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust played in the drive to establish a Jewish state.
Mayors in New York City, which has America鈥檚 largest Jewish population, have long been visible supporters of Israel, often visiting the country.
Support for Israel among Americans has in recent years, though, a trend that accelerated amid the outcry over Israeli military action in Gaza..
Mamdani, the city鈥檚 first Muslim mayor, has remained steadfast in his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
He has said he believes Israel has a right to exist but not as a hierarchy that favors Jewish citizens. Simultaneously he has pledged to protect Jewish New Yorkers and highlighted the work of the city鈥檚 Office to Combat Antisemitism.
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