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Dem mayoral candidate in major American city linked to rabid anti-Israel activism: report

Dem mayoral candidate in major American city linked to rabid anti-Israel activism: report

Fox News8 hours ago

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has very deep ties to activism against one of America's closest allies, a report by antisemitic watchdog group Canary Mission found.
With New York City's mayoral primary election on Tuesday and the Israeli-Iran conflict still fresh, Canary Mission is warning that "a vote for Mamdani is a vote for anti-Israel chaos in NYC."
Mamdani, who has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is one of the top candidates for the Democratic mayoral nomination in New York City. He is facing off against former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. The current mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is running for re-election as an independent.
According to a new report by Canary Mission, Mamdani is a regular and prominent figure in New York City's anti-Israel protest scene, who, as a New York state assemblyman, introduced legislation to crack down on non-profits sending money to Israel.
The report stated that Mamdani joined protests against Israel just days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.
According to Canary Mission, Mamdani "didn't stumble into anti-Israel activism—he was raised in it." The report details how Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Muslim-Indian parents Mahmood Mamdani and Mira Nair, both of whom are also outspoken anti-Israel activists.
Mamdani's father, Mahmood, is a professor of anthropology at New York's Columbia University, which has been at the epicenter of the pro-Palestine protests in the U.S. Canary Mission calls Mahmood a "Marxist" professor who is "known for his anti-Israel views and obsession with 'colonialism.'"
According to the report, in a recent course titled "Settlers and Natives," Mahmood promoted the concept of "the necessity of violence in anticolonial struggle."
The report also said that Mahmood was one of the Columbia faculty members who donned an orange vest and locked arms in attempts to keep Avi Weinberg, an economics student at Columbia, and a small group of Jewish classmates from entering a pro-Palestine encampment on Columbia's campus.
Faculty refused to answer when asked why the students were not being let on the lawn. Members of the crowd suggested it was unfair that faculty were determining who could and could not go into the area, when it is part of the university campus they pay to attend.
Meanwhile, Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair, is a filmmaker who just this year signed onto an open letter calling on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to forbid Israeli actress Gal Gadot from attending the Oscars, according to the report.
Both of Mamdani's parents are supportive of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which encourages economic pressure against the state of Israel for its alleged "genocide" against Palestinians.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's office for comment but received no response by publication deadline.

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