{"id":1035490,"date":"2026-08-31T19:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035490\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:42:12","slug":"jewish-democratic-congressional-candidate-accosted-at-new-york-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035490\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Democratic congressional candidate accosted at New York protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brad Lander, the Jewish progressive Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives in New York<\/a>\u2019s 10th Congressional District, was targeted with insults and calls to leave over allegations of being a Zionist while attending a protest outside Madison Square Garden on Saturday.<\/p>\n

“You look like a scrotum, you filthy ballsack!” one protester shouted at him. “F*** you, ballsack Zionist!”<\/p>\n

He was further accused of being “another paid Zionist” and was told to “get out of here.”<\/p>\n

The confrontation took place during a protest against an event organized by the Hindu nationalist RSS movement<\/a>. Lander attempted to explain to protesters that he had come to join their cause, but some made clear that, in their view, there was no place at the demonstration for a Zionist, even one who opposes the policies of the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

The confrontation was particularly notable given Lander\u2019s own views on Israel. Over the past year, he has become one of the most prominent Jewish critics of Israel within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. He has described the war in Gaza as \u201cgenocide,\u201d called for an end to \u201cAmerican complicity\u201d in the conflict, and said he would not support additional military aid to Israel at the time.<\/p>\n

\"BradBrad Lander with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during the 2026 New York City Pride March on June 28, 2026 in New York City. (credit: ROY ROCHLIN\/GETTY IMAGES)<\/p>\n

Despite those positions, Lander continues to describe himself as a \u201cliberal Zionist.\u201d He supports Israel\u2019s existence as a Jewish and democratic state and opposes the boycott movement against Israel.<\/p>\n

Lander tried to explain his position during the confrontation. \u201cI am Brad Lander, the Democratic candidate for Congress in New York\u2019s 10th District, and I came here today to join others and say no to RSS,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lander criticizes Madison Square Garden for hosting ‘fascist and hateful rally’<\/strong><\/p>\n

He criticized Madison Square Garden for hosting what he described as a \u201cfascist and hateful rally,\u201d comparing the decision to host the event to the infamous pro-Nazi rally held at the venue in 1939.<\/p>\n

Not all protesters joined the confrontation. Several attempted to intervene between Lander and those confronting him, urging them to stop. \u201cBrad, please, we are all here for the same cause,\u201d one protester said, while another told Lander that they were trying to protect him.<\/p>\n

Lander said he understood their efforts to help him, but he would not accept the demands. \u201cThey are making it very difficult for me to leave. They have no right to tell me where to stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated Rep. Dan Goldman in the June Democratic primary, winning 66% to 34%. Goldman is considered one of the Democratic Party\u2019s most prominent supporters of Israel. Lander received the active backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, who during the campaign criticized Goldman, among other issues, for supporting military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n

Hindu nationalist movement RSS accused of incitement against minorities<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Madison Square Garden event drew thousands of attendees, with RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat serving as the keynote speaker. The Hindu nationalist movement is considered the ideological home of India\u2019s ruling BJP party. Critics accuse the group of extreme nationalism and incitement against minorities, allegations the movement rejects.<\/p>\n

The confrontation with Lander highlights growing tensions within the progressive movement<\/a> over Israel. Even a Jewish politician who adopted much of the left\u2019s harsh criticism of the Gaza war arrived to protest alongside progressive activists and called for a \u201cfree Palestine,\u201d yet was still targeted with insults solely because he continues to define himself as a Zionist.<\/p>\n

Lander responds to abuse received during protest<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement following the incident, Lander brushed off the protesters who confronted him as \u201ca few loud mouths\u201d and \u201cfringe assholes,\u201d saying he had no intention of allowing them to dictate where he could stand or what political positions he could hold.<\/p>\n

Lander reiterated both his fierce criticism of Israel and his continued identification with a liberal Zionist vision, saying he believes Israel\u2019s actions against Palestinians in Gaza \u201cmeet the definition of genocide,\u201d while still believing in \u201cthe vision and the possibility of a Jewish and democratic Israel alongside a free Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that the protesters who targeted him did not represent the organizers of the anti-RSS demonstration, several of whom condemned the confrontation. \u201cNo one\u2019s going to tell me where I can stand or what positions I can take,\u201d Lander said, adding that the episode would not deter him from joining coalitions against hate \u201cin India, in Israel and Palestine, or in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brad Lander, the Jewish progressive Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives in New York\u2019s 10th Congressional…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1035491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[12648,26813,9124,8921,99,403,50,71678,7237,5301],"class_list":["post-1035490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-antisemitism","tag-antizionism","tag-democratic-party","tag-diaspora","tag-israel","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-progressives","tag-protests","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117191833984668554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}