{"id":488088,"date":"2026-01-02T22:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/488088\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T22:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:50:14","slug":"palestine-advocates-praise-nycs-mamdani-for-revoking-pro-israel-decrees-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/488088\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestine advocates praise NYC\u2019s Mamdani for revoking pro-Israel decrees | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Palestinian rights advocates are praising New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> for revoking pro-Israel municipal decrees within hours of his inauguration, a move that was promptly condemned by the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, his first day in office, Mamdani wiped out all the executive orders his predecessor, Eric Adams, implemented after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was charged with bribery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

One of the orders restricted boycotts of Israel and prohibited mayoral appointees from issuing contracts \u201cthat discriminate against the State of Israel, Israeli citizens, or those associated\u201d with the US ally.<\/p>\n

It was signed by Adams less than a month ago and was seen by critics as an attempt to create controversy for the incoming Mamdani administration.<\/p>\n

Another now-nixed decree adopted a controversial definition of anti-Semitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which advocates say can be used to censor and penalise speech critical of Israel.<\/p>\n

Nasreen Issa, a member of the Palestine Youth Movement<\/a> \u2013 NYC, said Israel and its supporters have long pushed for the \u201ccriminalisation of dissent\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, Mamdani\u2019s rejection of this is a positive step towards protecting the rights of New Yorkers and the dignity of Palestinians,\u201d Issa told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Afaf Nasher, the head of the New York chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations<\/a> (CAIR), also applauded Mamdani for revoking an \u201cunconstitutional order restricting the ability of New Yorkers to criticize the Israeli government\u2019s racism or boycott Israel\u2019s human rights abuses\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis unconstitutional, Israel First attack on free speech should have never been issued in the first place,\u201d Nasher said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Nasher further slammed the IHRA definition, saying that the \u201coverly broad\u201d guidelines frame disagreement with Zionism as anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe order would have also unconstitutionally limited boycotts against only Israel,\u201d Nasher said.<\/p>\n

Palestinian rights supporters have long rejected the IHRA definition<\/a>, which heavily focuses on Israel. The definition provides 11 examples of anti-Semitism, six of which involve Israel.<\/p>\n

They include \u201cclaiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor\u201d and \u201capplying double standards\u201d to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s wonderful that Mayor Mamdani took measures on day one to reinforce our rights to free speech, which included our right to criticize and oppose Israeli apartheid and genocide,\u201d said YL Al-Sheikh, a Palestinian-American writer active in the Democratic Socialists of America.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IHRA being implemented as government policy isn\u2019t about combatting antisemitism but about stifling dissent and this should be something all Americans oppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel weighs in<\/p>\n

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs decried Mamdani\u2019s moves on Friday, saying that the newly inaugurated mayor is showing \u201chis true face\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t leadership. It\u2019s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,\u201d it said in a post on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n

Separately, Amichai Chikli, Israel\u2019s minister of diaspora affairs, deployed Islamophobic language to criticise Mamdani\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

He called the mayor a \u201cHamas sympathiser\u201d and drew a connection between him and the Muslim mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a Muslim Brotherhood Islamist whose slogan is \u2018Globalize the Intifada\u2019 takes control of New York City or London, these are exactly the decisions you get,\u201d Chikli wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Neither Mamdani nor Khan has any known connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.<\/p>\n

Issa said the intense Israeli response is not about the mayor\u2019s policy moves but is rather aimed at controlling the narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael\u2019s main approach \u2013 at the highest level, at the level of the Foreign Ministry \u2013 has been to push for the criminalisation of protected speech through these warped definitions of anti-Semitism like the IHRA,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince they\u2019re losing in the court of public opinion<\/a>, the response now is to push for the criminalisation of dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Issa also called Chikli\u2019s attack on Mamdani \u201cblatant Islamophobia, racism and disinformation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re trying to promote these accusations that have no basis in reality whatsoever,\u201d Issa told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut from their perspective, any support for Palestinians, any opposition to Israel\u2019s genocide or the conduct of its military \u2013 whether in Gaza or the West Bank, over the last two years, over the last decades \u2013 none of that is acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al-Sheikh said it was \u201cabsurd\u201d that Israel is trying to impose its preferences on local policies in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven Americans who aren\u2019t Palestinian or pro Palestine can see this is strange and inhibits our rights,\u201d Al-Sheikh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also weirdly counterproductive on Israel\u2019s part since it only makes Mamdani look better. A single policy paper that said you can\u2019t criticise a country was repealed and now they claim it is the end of the world, but \u2018you should be allowed to criticise any country you want\u2019 is the universal American position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel was not alone, however, in denouncing Mamdani\u2019s actions. The administration of President Donald Trump also issued a warning to the Mamdani administration.<\/p>\n

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, said her office would be vigilant \u201cto ANY AND ALL violations of religious liberties\u201d in New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will investigate, sue, and indict as needed,\u201d Dhillon wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Palestine solidarity activists often stress that criticising Israeli abuses should not be conflated with attacking Judaism.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s rise<\/p>\n

Mamdani has been a vocal critic of Israeli policies against Palestinians, prompting accusations of anti-Semitism from Israel\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n

But he has repeatedly promised to protect Jewish residents. During his inauguration ceremony, he pledged to continue the Mayor\u2019s Office to Combat Anti-Semitism (MOCA), an Adams-era development, and he told reporters his administration would \u201ccelebrate and cherish\u201d Jewish New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

The new mayor, 34, took the oath of office on a copy of the Quran<\/a> at the turn of the new year, becoming the first Muslim mayor of America\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n

The Democratic socialist, who formerly served as a state legislator, had minimal name recognition when he first announced his candidacy late in 2024.<\/p>\n

But he steadily grew his base of support with a message focused on affordability and housing.<\/p>\n

Last June, he defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo to win the Democratic nomination, in one of the most stunning political upsets in recent US history.<\/p>\n

Mamdani then defeated Cuomo again in the general elections in November, after the ex-governor relaunched his campaign as an independent with Trump\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

Adams was elected as a Democrat in 2021, but his administration faced numerous scandals during its four-year term, including accusations that Adams had entered into a quid pro quo with representatives from the Turkish government.<\/p>\n

Earlier in 2024, Trump\u2019s Justice Department dropped the federal bribery charges he faced. Adams had launched a re-election campaign as an independent, but he ultimately suspended his bid and backed Cuomo before the elections.<\/p>\n

While Mamdani\u2019s platform was largely focused on local issues, some of his supporters have argued<\/a> that his vocal support for Palestinian rights helped propel his campaign amid the growing anger at Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Palestinian rights advocates are praising New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for revoking pro-Israel municipal decrees within hours…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":488089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,69,454,13191,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,67,586,132,5230,68,72,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-488088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-canada","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115827954419859826","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488088","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=488088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}