{"id":73279,"date":"2026-05-16T04:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/73279\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:36:11","slug":"mamdani-posts-nakba-day-video-saying-the-catastrophe-continues-until-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/73279\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani posts Nakba Day video, saying the ‘catastrophe’ continues until today"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday posted a video and a statement for Nakba Day, an annual Palestinian event, drawing furious backlash from leading Jewish groups in the city.<\/p>\n

Nakba is Arabic for \u201ccatastrophe,\u201d and refers to Israel\u2019s founding and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Israel\u2019s 1948 War of Independence. The Nakba narrative and the associated \u201cright of return\u201d for the refugees\u2019 descendants are seen by many as demands for Israel\u2019s demise as a Jewish state.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s video, posted shortly before Shabbat, showed an interview with a \u201cNakba survivor,\u201d New York resident Inea Bushnaq. She described fleeing her home because \u201cthe Zionists were coming into Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNakba is Arabic for \u2018catastrophe,\u2019\u201d the text in the video said. \u201cIt refers to the expulsion and displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Haganah, Irgun and Lehi militias, among others, destroyed more than 400 Palestinian villages and cities, killing thousands of Palestinians and carrying out dozens of massacres,\u201d the video said. \u201cMay 15 is the annual commemoration of the Nakba. For Palestinians, their displacement and the Nakba continues to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bushnaq in the video described the use of keys as a symbol of the right of return.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople, of course, locked their houses when they left, and all they had of it was the key when it turned out there was no going back,\u201d she said. \u201cIt became sort of a symbol \u2014 you have the key but not the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani: the refugees you post about exist because 22 Arab states launched a war to destroy Israel on May 15, 1948\u2014rejecting the UN plan that also called for a Palestinian state. In its aftermath, 800,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands. Your post mentions none of this. https:\/\/t.co\/Fn1aY788Tc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 UJA-Federation of New York (@UJAfedNY) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The video, produced by the mayor\u2019s office, presented a one-sided narrative of Israel\u2019s War of Independence.\n<\/p>\n

For example, it did not mention Arab massacres of Jews<\/a>, that Arab armies invaded the territory to eliminate its Jewish community<\/a>, that the Palestinians refused a two-state solution that could have prevented the war, that Jews were ethnically cleansed from Jerusalem in the conflict, or that more than 800,000 Jews were made refugees from Arab lands due to the war.<\/p>\n

The right of return is seen by many as a central obstacle<\/a> to a two-state solution. Palestinians demand the return<\/a> to Israel of all the descendants of refugees, now numbering in the millions, a demand that is a non-starter for Israel because the influx would swamp the country\u2019s Jewish population.<\/p>\n

International arbiters like the UN do not grant any population besides the Palestinians hereditary refugee status, and do not allow any other group to retain its refugee status after receiving citizenship elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPalestinian Arab refugees leave Ramle after its capture by Israel, July 1948. (Public domain)<\/p>\n

The video\u2019s statement that the Nakba \u201ccontinues to this day\u201d signals Mamdani\u2019s support for the right of return.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s video drew furious pushback from Jewish leaders in the city, despite coming out shortly before Shabbat. Mamdani, an anti-Zionist<\/a>, is a harsh critic of Israel who has often sparred with mainstream Jewish groups.<\/p>\n

The UJA-Federation of New York said in a statement, \u201cMayor Mamdani: the refugees you post about exist because 22 Arab states launched a war to destroy Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn its aftermath, 800,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands. Your post mentions none of this. And you chose 5:40 PM on Friday to post it \u2014 as Jewish New Yorkers prepare to light Shabbat candles. We noticed,\u201d the federation said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIraqi Jews arrive in Israel\u2019s Lod Airport on May 1, 1950. (GPO \/ BRAUNER TEDDY)<\/p>\n

Criticism also poured in from the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York<\/a>, city<\/a> and state lawmakers, former City Hall staff<\/a>, and members of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many critics pointed to the video\u2019s one-sidedness, while others connected the Nakba narrative to discrimination and threats against Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill wondering why hatred against Jews is so high in NYC? We have a mayor who is using government resources to disseminate a narrative and incite hostile propaganda,\u201d said<\/a> New York State Assemblymember Simcha Eisenstein, from Brooklyn. Jews are targeted in hate crimes more than all other groups combined in New York City, according to NYPD data.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. International Law guy forgot to include the fact that the Arab world rejected the UN\u2019s partition plan to establish a Palestinian state,\u201d Eisenstein said, referring to Mamdani\u2019s frequent invocations of international law to condemn Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cRewriting history to portray the existence of Israel itself as the original sin, is not education or remembrance. It is propaganda,\u201d said<\/a> Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents a largely Jewish area in Queens. \u201cThis mayor constantly tries to market himself as an ally to the Jewish community while amplifying narratives that fuel hatred against the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani released the video as hardline anti-Zionist groups held Nakba Day rallies in Manhattan. The protesters waved a flag from the Hezbollah terrorist group, stomped<\/a> on Israeli flags, called for Israel\u2019s destruction, and harassed<\/a> police, video showed.<\/p>\n

NOW: Protesters gathered in Washington Square Park in NYC for Nakba pic.twitter.com\/wTWSsuLcus<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Oliya Scootercaster ???? (@ScooterCasterNY) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Mamdani posted the video shortly after thanking law enforcement for arresting an alleged terrorist<\/a>\u00a0for plotting to attack a New York synagogue on behalf of Iran\u2019s anti-Zionist regime.\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani said the arrest \u201ccomes amid an alarming rise in antisemitism across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear: antisemitism, violent extremism, and terrorism have no place in our city. This kind of hate is despicable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mamdani has refused to march in the Jewish community\u2019s annual parade, called Israel Day on Fifth, taking place later this month.<\/p>\n


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