Mayor Mamdani devoted only 49 words of a 211-word statement to commemorate the worst single day attack on Jews since the Holocaust, in a city that is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel. He avoided any real description of what happened on October 7, including mass murder, burnings, beheadings, executions, and sadism toward Jews, Arabs, and foreign workers, including women, children, teenagers, and the elderly. He refused to call Hamas a terrorist organization or acknowledge that none of this would have happened had the group honored the ceasefire it unilaterally broke. There was no assignment of agency or responsibility to any Palestinian actor.
Yet he used the remaining 162 words to describe in detail what happened in Gaza after the attack. He showed full capacity to recognize Palestinian suffering, which is real and must be acknowledged, but his statement was tone deaf, inconsiderate, and antagonizing to millions who deserve their trauma recognized on its own terms. He has spoken endlessly about his anti-Israel views and will continue to do so, but this was the one day in which he could have offered unconditional compassion to the victims and survivors of October 7 and their loved ones, many of whom have deep roots in New York.
This type of statement ignores basic logical principles like cause and effect, choices and consequences, actions and reactions, priorities and implications, further infantilizing the Palestinians and ignoring the failures of Hamas and Palestinian leadership that have harmed their own people. It hardens attitudes toward Gazans and reduces empathy for the vast and unspeakable suffering in the coastal enclave, rather than increasing it.
@NYCMayor: sometimes less is better. You should have stayed with your first 49 words, especially as unhinged “pro-Palestine activists” are celebrating October 7 today across the country. Stand up to your base, Mr. Mamdani. You have already won and do not need to appease radicals at the expense of Jewish New Yorkers. And please stop pretending that this is about helping Palestinians or caring for Gazans.
Breaking: "As retired senior military leaders and legal experts, on this, the third anniversary of Hamas's October 7, 2023 brutal attack on Israel, we reject claims that Israel committed genocide in Gaza." @jinsadc
I am honored to be a part of 76 retired U.S. officers (including 13 Generals, 27 Lieutenant Generals, 19 Major Generals, 5 Brigadier Generals) Refuting the Genocide Allegation Against Israel.
https://t.co/U5LaUPmFG6
"The precedent established today regarding Israel will shape the conditions under which American forces fight tomorrow. Protecting civilians and preserving the ability of our nation to defend itself requires us to defend the truth when the laws of war are being distorted to make false charges of genocide."