{"id":84566,"date":"2025-07-23T00:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T00:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/84566\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T00:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T00:41:15","slug":"zohran-mamdani-ripped-for-using-zionist-as-punchline-as-critics-warn-nyc-mayoral-race-is-at-code-red-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/84566\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani ripped for using ‘Zionist’ as punchline — as critics warn NYC mayoral race is at ‘code red situation’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel-bashing Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani <\/a>is catching flak again \u2014 for once using \u201cZionist\u201d as the punchline to an insulting joke, critics claim.<\/p>\n

Jewish New Yorkers were outraged over the recently resurfaced video<\/a> of the mayoral race frontrunner speaking before the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t clap for El-Yateem,\u201d Mamdani said, \u201cYou\u2019re a Zionist!\u201d<\/p>\n

A newly resurfaced video shows Zohran Mamdani calling someone a \u201cZionist\u201d as a punchline to an insulting joke. YouTube\/Democratic Socialists of America<\/p>\n

He was referring to Lutheran pastor and Palestinian community organizer Khader El-Yateem, who ran unsuccessfully for a Brooklyn City Council seat in 2017.<\/p>\n

Mamdani, the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman, then said, \u201cIt\u2019s a joke, you don\u2019t have to clap.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Israel supporters weren\u2019t laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe turning of \u2018Zionist\u2019 into a slur in mainstream western liberal spaces is the most significant antisemitic development of the 21st century,\u201d said podcaster Blake Flayton, who posted the video on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis man is about to be mayor of New York,\u201d said Flayton, host of \u201cWe Should All Be Zionists,\u201d of the Democratic nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people yet understand how much of a code red situation this is. The severity of the moment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City was seen speaking at an event for the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023 when he made the insensitive remark. Instagram\/@zohrankmamdani<\/p>\n

Others defended Mamdani, noting he clearly said he was joking.<\/p>\n

But Flayton was having none of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not funny \u2014 racist\/antisemitic jokes are not funny,\u201d he posted.<\/p>\n

Todd Richman, co-founder of Democratic Majority for Israel, responded, \u201cDisgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cEnough of the \u2018l\u2019ll protect the Jewish community.\u2019 I\u2019m sorry but I don\u2019t believe him,\u201d Richman continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been perpetuating an anti-Zionist and therefore anti Jewish agenda since college. Now all of a sudden he is going to change?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said to add Mamdani\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019re a Zionist\u201d quip to the pile of comments and positions that the City Hall hopeful will have to explain, particularly to the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has to address comments he has made in the past that are controversial \u2014 and in some cases offensive,\u201d Potasnik told The Post Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mamdani was referring to Khader El-Yateem, a Lutheran pastor and Palestinian community organizer, when making the joke, as he told the audience, \u201cIt\u2019s a joke, you don\u2019t have to clap.\u201d Facebook\/Khader El-Yateem<\/p>\n

New York City has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, most of whom are pro-Israel or Zionists, said Potasnik, adding of Mamdani: \u201cWe\u2019re going to hold him accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Queens Councilman Rory Lancman also highlighted Mamdani\u2019s history of anti-Israel statements and positions. <\/p>\n

\u201cDeploying \u2018Zionist\u2019 as an epithet comes naturally to someone like Mr. Mamdani who fundamentally, and unabashedly, opposes the right of the Jewish people \u2014 and only the Jewish people \u2014 to self-determination, freedom, and safety in their ancestral homeland, and demands of every Jew that they renounce this central aspect of their Jewish identity as the price for social and political acceptance into civil society,\u201d said Lancman.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMamdani believes deeply that every Jew must bend the knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his 2023 speech, Mamdani praised the DSA for backing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe mean what we say when we say we have a socialist politic. It is consistent, it is universal, and it stands for justice in every place with no exception,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Anti-Defamation League calls the BDS movement antisemitic for seeking to undermine the world\u2019s only Jewish state.<\/p>\n

Mamdani is a supporter of the boycott movement against Israel, even leading a pro-Palestinian rally chanting \u201cBDS!<\/a>\u201d and criticizing other elected officials for visiting the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

The DSA was an an early endorser of Mamdani for mayor and the backbone of his successful Democratic primary campaign. <\/p>\n

The candidate has been on a charm offensive since defeating ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other Dem hopefuls in the primary last month. <\/p>\n

He has been seeking to expand his base of support for the November general election, meeting with business bigwigs<\/a>, party leaders and Jewish officials.<\/p>\n

His campaign declined to comment on the \u201cYou\u2019re a Zionist\u201d line.<\/p>\n

Mamdani has come under fire for refusing to condemn the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

After meeting with Jewish elected officials, he said he now discourages people from using the rallying call.<\/p>\n

Mamdani also previously faced criticism for appearing to defend al Qaeda fiend<\/a> Anwar al-Awlaki <\/a>\u2014 and blaming America for turning the prostitution-loving cleric into a terrorist in 2015 tweets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel-bashing Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is catching flak again \u2014 for once using \u201cZionist\u201d as the punchline to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":84567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,12648,99,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,5341,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,57312,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-84566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-antisemitism","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-nyc-mayoral-election-2025","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-us-news","25":"tag-usa","26":"tag-zionism","27":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114899771971996662","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84566","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=84566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}