New York City Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani defended his support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in a Tuesday interview on MSNBC.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Mamdani was asked about his support for BDS, the boycott movement against Israel. Mamdani said he supports it as a way to pressure Israel to comply with international law.
"And I've said, I support BDS because this is a movement that is looking for that kind of compliance. We haven't seen it," he said.
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"Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist asked Mamdani how he could square his support for Jewish New Yorkers while promoting the BDS movement, noting that many in the city's Jewish community worry he harbors animosity toward them. BDS has also been condemned by the Anti-Defamation League as a simplistic, biased effort to delegitimize Israel and embolden antisemitism.
The candidate argued that his criticism of Israel lies with its government, not the Jewish people.
"I think critiques of the state of Israel are critiques of a government, as opposed to critiques of a people and of a faith," he said. "And my job is to represent every single New Yorker, and I will do so no matter their thoughts and opinions on Israel and Palestine, of which millions of New Yorkers have very strong views - and I'm one of them."
Jewish leaders in New York City have warned that Mamdani would pose a threat to the city's Jewish community.
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"To be clear, unequivocal, and on the record, I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community," Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Conservative Park Avenue Synagogue on Manhattan's Upper East Side told his congregation in October.
Mamdani's opponents in the race - independent candidate former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa - have both said Mamdani would not protect Jewish New Yorkers if elected this week.
During the Democratic primary earlier this year, the candidate refused to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," which is widely considered a call to violence against Jews, while some proponents argue it's a peaceful resistance slogan. He later said he would discourage usage of the phrase.
Mamdani was also filmed at a 2023 rally calling for New York's elected leaders to support his state assembly bill that would prohibit any "not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity."
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"Are we ready to end New York state subsidy of settler crimes? Are we ready to say, 'Not on our dime?'" Mamdani shouted at the time.
Geist asked Mamdani, "Would BDS be the policy of your administration as mayor?"
"I've said that I would support and have supported non-violent movements to bring about compliance with international law," he said. "And where this mayor [Eric Adams] has violated and looked to violate that kind of law, I would bring us back into compliance."
Mamdani also said during the interview that he would be the mayor for all Jewish New Yorkers.
