NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced widespread criticism from Jewish organizations and elected officials after releasing a Nakba Day video that opponents said unfairly portrayed Israel’s founding while ignoring key historical context.

The video, posted Friday by the mayor’s office shortly before Shabbat, highlighted Palestinian displacement during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and included testimony from a Palestinian resident recalling her family’s departure from Jerusalem. The presentation described the Nakba as an ongoing experience for Palestinians.

Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed.

Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us… pic.twitter.com/z2PBOaJq5Z

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 15, 2026

Jewish advocacy groups and lawmakers quickly condemned the message, arguing it failed to mention the invasion of Israel by Arab armies after independence, the rejection of a U.N. partition proposal by Arab leaders and the displacement of Jewish communities from Arab countries in the years that followed.

The UJA-Federation of New York accused the mayor of presenting a selective version of history, while several state lawmakers said the video risked deepening tensions at a time of heightened antisemitic incidents in New York City.

Assemblymembers Simcha Eisenstein and Sam Berger were among those criticizing the use of city resources for the project, arguing the video promoted a political narrative hostile to Israel.

The backlash came as anti-Israel demonstrations tied to Nakba Day took place in Manhattan, where some protesters displayed Hezbollah flags and chanted slogans calling for Israel’s elimination.

Earlier in the day, Mamdani had praised authorities for arresting a suspect accused of planning an attack on a New York synagogue, stating that antisemitism and extremism would not be tolerated in the city.