Zohran Mamdani shared ‘sick' video mocking Hannukah and ‘cosplaying Jews,' advocacy group charges
The mayoral front-runner shared a video on his X account last year from the Geeta Brothers Duet Group, showing two men wearing wigs dancing behind a menorah, playing with dreidels and celebrating with Punjabi-style music.
'Zohran Mamdani posts Indian men cosplaying Jews, spinning dreidels and lighting the menorah,' pro-Jewish group Stop Antisemitism wrote in a post to X Saturday, which included the controversial song.
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'Our holidays and traditions are sacred and not for your comedic pleasure _ZohranKMamdani — this is sick.'
4 The music video 'Hey Hanukkah' was shared by Zohran Mamdani last year during the solemn holiday.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani, /X
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Mamdani, 33, shared the campy song called 'Hey Hannukah' during last year's Festival of Lights.
'Happy 3rd night of Hanukkah from Astoria and Long Island City,' the Queens lawmaker wrote on X at the time.
The video is from the 2015 parody album 'Punjabi Christmas Album Hits' from the Geeta Brothers — a side project of Sikh-Canadian musician and comedian Jus Reign.
4 The video from the Geeta Brothers showed men in wigs playing with dreidels, performing Punjabi music, and dancing behind a menorah.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani, /X
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Mamdani shared a similar video from the same comedy group on Christmas Eve 2024.
'Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from Astoria and Long Island City,' the self-described 'nepo-baby' wrote, sharing a video for the song 'Jingle Bells,' in which the performers wear similar wigs.
The tone-deaf post is not the only reason Jewish New Yorkers are outraged over the rise of the socialist pol.
4 The video is from a 2015 parody holiday album that is the brainchild of Sikh-Canadian comedian Jus Reign.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani, /X
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Some Big Apple voters were gobsmacked when they received pro-Mamdani text messages that invoked the horrors of the October 7th attack in Israel.
'My friend Idan was murdered on October 7 at the Re'im music festival. The war is personal to me, as it is to many in our community,' a text shared with The Post read.
'The war is personal to me, as it is to many others in our community. Idan believed in peace, just like Zohran does,' the text read. It's unclear who sent them.
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Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
The state assemblyman has previously come under fire for refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
Earlier this week, the Bronx Science graduate, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, alienated Black New Yorkers when it was revealed that he claimed he was African American on his application to Columbia University.
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USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell should serve 'life sentence,' opposes potential pardon
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said he believes Ghislaine Maxwell, a key associate of Jeffrey Epstein currently serving 20 years in prison for conspiring to sexually abuse minors, should face "a life sentence." "If you're asking my opinion, I think 20 years was a pittance," Johnson told NBC's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" July 27. "I think she should have a life sentence, at least." His remarks to NBC come as many, including supporters of President Donald Trump, clamor for testimony from Maxwell. Some followers of the case have proposed a pardon in exchange, but Trump told reporters on July 25 he hadn't considered the move. "I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about," the president said. Epstein was charged with sexually trafficking minors and died by suicide while in detention in 2019. Maxwell, his longtime girlfriend, has been accused of recruiting minors for the disgraced financier's predation. Maxwell maintains her innocence and is appealing her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction. Johnson in his interview with NBC reiterated that pardons aren't up to him, telling the outlet, "obviously that's a decision of the president." "I won't get it in front of him," Johnson said. "That's not my lane." But, later in the interview he noted, "It's hard to put into words how evil this was, and that she orchestrated it and was a big part of it." "So, again, not my decision," he added, "but I have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would." The Trump administration for weeks has faced backlash over its handling of Epstein's case. Critics from Democratic lawmakers to prominent Republicans and slices of Trump's voter base accuse the president and other officials of not being transparent with the American people. The speaker has faced his own ongoing Epstein-related criticism, as some House Republicans have zeroed in on the Justice Department's recent review of Epstein's case and are calling for related documents to be released publicly. Democrats in Congress have piled on too. Reps. Ro Khanna, D-California, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, introduced a bipartisan measure to force the Trump administration's hand in releasing the federal government's files. Also on "Meet The Press," the pair split on pardoning Maxwell. "That would be up to the president," Massie said. "But if she has information that could help us, then I think she should testify. Let's get that out there. And whatever they need to do to compel that testimony, as long as it's truthful, I would be in favor of." Khanna disagreed, saying Maxwell shouldn't receive a pardon. "Look, I agree with Congressman Massie that she should testify," the California Democrat said. "But she's been indicted twice on perjury. This is why we need the files. This is why we need independent evidence." Contributing: Bart Jansen and Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY
Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Over 50 Canadian Lawmakers Condemn China's Persecution of Falun Gong, Extension of Repression Overseas
More than 50 Canadian parliamentarians have condemned the Chinese regime's 26-year-long persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, calling for an end to the ongoing human rights abuses in China and to transnational repression targeting practitioners in Canada. Fifty-two MPs and a senator with different party affiliations have signed a joint statement urging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to 'immediately' end its persecution of Falun Gong. The statement also condemns the regime's escalating transnational repression, which includes surveillance, harassment, intimidation, assault, disinformation, and cyberattacks against the meditation group on Canadian soil. The statement comes as the persecution of the spiritual group entered its 26th year on July 20. 'We, the undersigned Parliamentarians, stand in solidarity with the Falun Gong community and strongly condemn the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) escalating transnational repression (TNR) and ongoing, 26-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,' reads the statement. 'Falun Gong—also known as Falun Dafa—is a peaceful spiritual practice based on the universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance,' the statement adds. 'Since 1999, the CCP has attempted to eliminate this faith group through systematic and egregious human rights abuses.' Although the discipline is currently practised in more than 100 countries worldwide, it is banned in communist China, where practitioners continue to face severe persecution, with reports of torture, forced labour, killings, and live forced organ harvesting. Bomb and Mass Shooting Threats The parliamentarians' joint statement cites Beijing's targeting in Canada of U.S. dance company Shen Yun Performing Arts—founded by Falun Gong practitioners—as an instance of transnational repression. It notes that venues hosting Shen Yun in four Canadian cities this year received bomb or shooting threats—part of the more than 140 false threats that venues hosting the dance company received worldwide in the past year. Some of these threats have been traced to sources in China. Shen Yun's stated aim, under the tagline 'China before communism,' is to portray traditional Chinese culture through dance and music. Shen Yun's artists find their inspiration in the practice of Falun Gong, according to the company's website, and among them are those who have escaped persecution in China. The Epoch Times learned last year via two sources that Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in a 2022 secret meeting, instructed top state officials on a new strategy to target Falun Gong internationally, including through disinformation campaigns and by using Western media outlets and the local legal system to go after companies started by Falun Gong practitioners. The regime's previous efforts to suppress Falun Gong overseas had essentially failed, according to the Chinese leader. Parliamentarians said in their joint statement that the threats targeting the dance company 'are part of a broader, global CCP-led campaign of sabotage aimed at suppressing Falun Gong and Shen Yun.' 'These actions not only harm the Falun Gong community and disrupt Shen Yun, but also threatens the integrity of Canada's institutions, sovereignty, and core democratic values,' reads the statement. Grace Wollensak, a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, says she is grateful for the statement issued by the parliamentarians. 'We are glad that these over 50 MPs and senators are speaking out to condemn CCP's repression, not only in China, but also in Canada and around the world,' Wollensak said, noting that the MPs put out the statement in just over two weeks and despite many being on vacation during the summer break. 'We are encouraged that they understand this important issue and are expressing their support and standing in solidarity with Falun Gong practitioners.' She adds that the Chinese regime's transnational repression and smear campaigns span the globe. 'Since 2022, at Xi Jinping's direction, the regime has been engaging in a more aggressive and sophisticated campaign to intimidate, threaten, and silence Falun Gong and entities like Shen Yun Performing Arts, especially in the United States, but also in Canada and other countries,' she said. 'Well-documented incidents include an attempt to bribe U.S. officials to turn against Shen Yun, manipulating the U.S. legal system, issuing over 100 anonymous bomb threats, and undertaking social media manipulation campaigns.' Last year, a U.S. court sentenced a U.S.-based Chinese agent to 20 months in prison for attempting to bribe an Internal Revenue Service official with US$50,000 to revoke Shen Yun's non-profit status. Wollensak says that in Canada, more people have become aware of the CCP's transnational repression efforts, and government officials are more alert to it. 'We are grateful for their understanding,' she said. Harassment, Smear Campaigns, Intimidation A 2024 report submitted to Canada's Foreign Interference Commission by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada outlines various forms of repression faced by practitioners within the country, including physical assault, verbal harassment, intimidation of relatives, and pressure on elected officials to stop supporting Falun Gong. In a recent case, on Jan. 23, 2024, a Chinese man wielded a metal bar and uttered death threats against Falun Gong practitioners who were raising awareness of the persecution outside the Chinese Consulate's visa office in Toronto. He repeatedly struck one of the banners until it was torn, took pictures of practitioners, and threatened to kill them, according to the report. He was arrested by police. Meanwhile, interference attempt stargeting practitioners has also reached government officials, with several politicians at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels having received false emails impersonating Falun Gong practitioners in recent years. These emails used irrational language, according to the Falun Dafa Association of Canada. 'As the West grew more adept at identifying and countering direct CCP propaganda against Falun Gong and it became increasingly clear that Chinese officials involved in the dissemination of such propaganda could be held accountable, the regime resorted to a new tactic: impersonating Falun Gong practitioners and sending elected officials bizarre or aggravating emails designed to discredit the group,' reads the 2024 report. It adds that, over the years, the Falun Dafa Association of Canada has received more than a dozen variations of such false emails forwarded by Canadian elected officials. Intimidation of practitioners' relatives in China has also been a common tactic of transnational repression. In one case, a practitioner in Canada who spoke at a 2010 press conference outside the Chinese Consulate in her city about the persecution she experienced in China reported that local police contacted her husband in China shortly after the press conference to discuss her 'anti-CCP' activities. He was visited again later, prompting him to urge her to stop speaking out in Canada, she said. Ending Transnational Repression A number of Canadian officials have repeatedly called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong and expressed support for practitioners' efforts to raise awareness. One of them is Conservative MP James Bezan, one of the statement's signatories, who participated in this year's commemoration of World Falun Dafa Day. 'We acknowledged the resilience, strength, and perseverance of the millions of Falun Gong practitioners [who are being] persecuted by Beijing's communist regime in China and those who have escaped to Canada [who] are targeted by their operatives of the Chinese government,' he said in a May 29 social media post. Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a Canadian NGO, also called for an end to the 26-year persecution of Falun Gong, noting that millions of practitioners of this 'peaceful spiritual community' have been imprisoned, tortured, or killed, including through forced organ harvesting. 'What began as a brutal domestic crackdown has evolved into a wide-reaching, systematic effort to suppress Falun Gong practitioners both inside China and abroad, including here in Canada,' the organization said in a July 21 statement. 'We stand in solidarity with the Falun Gong community in Canada and around the world, who continue to endure surveillance, harassment, disinformation, and repression simply for exercising their fundamental rights.' At this year's G7 leaders' summit in Canada, world leaders issued a joint statement condemning the rise of transnational repression, saying they are 'deeply concerned' about foreign governments targeting dissidents abroad. They vowed to counter this threat, saying it 'often impacts dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, religious minorities, and those identified as part of diaspora communities.' The persecution of Falun Gong and its expansion abroad is an example of the need to counter this form of repression, the joint statement from the parliamentarians said. 'The CCP's campaign against Falun Gong clearly exemplifies the very dangers the G7 has called on the world to resist together,' it says. Joint Statement The following is the joint statement signed by 53 Canadian parliamentarians. Condemning the CCP's Escalating Transnational Repression Against Falun Gong We, the undersigned Parliamentarians, stand in solidarity with the Falun Gong community and strongly condemn the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) escalating transnational repression (TNR) and ongoing, 26-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong—also known as Falun Dafa—is a peaceful spiritual practice based on the universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Since 1999, the CCP has attempted to eliminate this faith group through systematic and egregious human rights abuses. In 2025, bomb and mass shooting threats were sent to venues hosting Shen Yun—a classical Chinese dance company founded by Falun Gong practitioners—in four Canadian cities, among over 140 such incidents reported globally. Some of these threats have been traced to sources in China. These acts are part of a broader, global CCP-led campaign of sabotage aimed at suppressing Falun Gong and Shen Yun. Over the past 26 years, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have endured surveillance, harassment, intimidation, assault, disinformation, cyberattacks, and other forms of CCP repression. These actions not only harm the Falun Gong community and disrupt Shen Yun, but also threatens the integrity of Canada's institutions, sovereignty, and core democratic values. In the statement issued on June 17, 2025, the G7 Leaders affirmed their commitment to protect communities and condemned transnational repression as a serious threat to rights and freedoms, national security, and state sovereignty. The CCP's campaign against Falun Gong clearly exemplifies the very dangers the G7 has called on the world to resist together.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Senate Democrats urge U.S. to stop funding GHF, resume support for U.N. food distribution in Gaza as more starve
A group of Democratic senators led by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is urging the Trump administration to suspend American financial support for the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private food distribution organization that has been heavily criticized for the way it delivers food aid to Gazans and because so many have been killed trying to reach its distribution sites. The U.S. and Israel have advocated for the recently established GHF to replace the United Nations, which has built an extensive network of humanitarian workers inside Gaza over decades. Israel accuses the U.N. of bias and collusion with Hamas. In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio Sunday, the 21 senators expressed "grave" concerns about "the U.S. role in and financial support for the troubled GHF." "We urge you to immediately cease all U.S. funding for GHF and resume support for the existing UN-led aid coordination mechanisms with enhanced oversight to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in need," the letter reads. The U.N. warns that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is growing increasingly dire as more Palestinians are in danger of starvation after a months-long Israeli blockade, and recent military operations complicated humanitarian efforts to help. The IDF claims there is no starvation. Van Hollen, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the powerful Appropriations Committee, told CBS News "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" Sunday, "American taxpayers should not be spending one penny to fund this private organization backed by mercenaries and by the IDF that has become a death trap," noting that scores of Gazans were shot and killed as starving people crowded the GHF sites to obtain food. The letter focuses on a $30 million pledge from the State Department, announced last month, and on GHF's operations, particularly its use of armed contractors who stand behind IDF soldiers at food distribution sites in four designated military zones. Starving Gazans must travel to those areas, which is difficult for those too weak to move. "Blurring the lines between delivery of aid and security operations shatters well-established norms that have governed distribution of humanitarian aid since the ratification of the Geneva Conventions in 1949," the letter says. U.S. allies have also been critical of the tactics used by the U.S. and Israeli-backed GHF. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told Margaret Brennan Sunday on "Face the Nation" that Gaza is on the "brink of food catastrophe" and that France expects "the Israeli government to stop the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused [a] bloodbath in humanitarian health distribution lines in Gaza." U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said Friday that a thousand Palestinians have been killed trying to access food since May 27. "We hold video calls with our own humanitarians who are starving before our eyes," Guterres said. "We will continue to speak out at every opportunity. But words don't feed hungry children." The U.N. human rights office said 1,054 people were killed while trying to obtain food since late May, and of those, 766 were killed while trying to reach sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The others were killed when gunfire erupted around U.N. convoys or aid sites. The group of senators led by Van Hollen are seeking answers about whether necessary oversight is being bypassed to benefit the GHF. Their letter cites public reports that the Trump administration authorized the funds under a "priority directive," which meant it could avoid "a comprehensive audit that is usually required for groups receiving USAID grants for the first time." The senators want to see the GHF's "complete funding application and all supporting documentation" and demand to know whether any statutory and regulatory requirements were waived. They also asked Rubio about the procurement mechanism that resulted in the $30 million in funding, and they want to know who signed the agreement, who might be liable for compliance violations and whether officials were aware of potential concerns raised by USAID about "GHF's ability to protect Palestinians while delivering food aid." The State Department has not responded to a CBS News request for comment about the senators' letter. A department spokesperson said Friday that the funding has been allocated, but it has not yet been disbursed to GHF. On Saturday, amid international outcry, the Israel Defense Force began airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza and said it would establish humanitarian corridors to "enable the safe movement of UN convoys delivering food and medicine to the population." The U.N. has said the airdrops are insufficient. Past airdrops have fallen on Gazans and killed them. Now the approximately 2 million people live in Gaza and have been herded into an even more limited zone that lacks extensive open space where air-dropped pallets can land. Israel's announcement came after extensive international outcry at images of starving children, and reports of death. Leaders in Europe, including French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Fredreich Merz, coordinated Saturday by phone. A readout of the call released by the UK said the three leaders said the situation in Gaza is "appalling" and "emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and urgently provide those suffering in Gaza with the food they so desperately need." On Friday, two Jordanian officials said they were considering airdrops and the United Arab Emirates sent a 7,000-ton aid ship to Gaza's shores. But it has not been determined who will distribute the food once it arrives. The GHF says it has distributed more than 91 million meals to Gazans, but there have been almost daily reports of civilians being injured or killed as they try to reach one of the group's four distribution hubs, all located in southern Gaza. In an interview with BBC News this week, Anthony Aguliar, a U.S. Army veteran and former contractor for GHF, detailed what he says he saw on the ground behind IDF lines during humanitarian aid distribution, calling the operation "amateur." "I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians. I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces firing a main gun tank round from the Merkava tank into a crowd of people," Aguilar said. "In my most frank assessment, I would say that they're criminal. In my entire career, I have never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population." In a statement to CBS News, the GHF called Aguilar's claims "materially false" and said he had been terminated from his position for "misconduct." The group has also been criticized by the U.N., which said GHF's tactics are neither adequate nor safe and make it more difficult for Gazans too weak to travel to military zones to secure food. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, which provides support for Palestinian refugees, condemned the GHF in June, calling it "an abomination" and "a death trap costing more lives than it saves." As the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated further this week, the GHF and U.N. groups continued to blame each other. In several public statements and social media posts last week, GHF said the responsibility for the mass starvation lies with the U.N. for allowing their full aid trucks inside Gaza to sit untouched and undistributed. "The U.N. cannot deliver this humanitarian aid to the people who need it most, and I'm not sure what the reason is," said GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay in a video posted to X, which showed him standing in front of U.N. aid trucks. "Whether it's looters, safety or whether they're playing politics, it just doesn't matter. The people of Gaza deserve better." The executive chairman of GHF, Reverend Johnnie Moore, in an interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro this week accused the U.N. of "playing politics with people's lives." "They're actually basically a willful participant on the Hamas side of the negotiating table in the ceasefire negotiations, by refusing to distribute aid and spreading this narrative around the world that the people of Gaza are going to starve if Hamas doesn't, in effect, get its demands at the negotiating table," Moore said. The U.N. World Food Programme says hundreds of aid trucks are ready to move, but the approval needed from the Israeli military to transport and distribute that aid is not coming quickly enough. In a statement Friday, they said just over half of their requests to collect cargo were approved and convoys were typically delayed, sometimes up to nearly two days, awaiting permission to travel within Gaza. Meanwhile, a UNICEF spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that their supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food or RUTF — used for treating severely acutely malnourished children — is expected to run out in mid-August if more is not allowed into Gaza. "We are now facing a dire situation that we are running out of therapeutic supplies," said Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Amman, Jordan. "That's really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment," he added. Oweis said UNICEF had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza. The UNICEF spokesperson said the agency is unaware of whether GHF is distributing this type of specialized food and emphasized that it must be given to children after they are assessed by professional health workers to be suffering from acute malnutrition. GHF did not respond to CBS News when asked if the foundation also distributes specialized high-nutrient food for acutely malnourished children. UNICEF is the main procurer of RUTF in the world. Read the full letter sent by Senate Democrats to Secretary of State Marco Rubio here:Camilla Schick and Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
