On the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a statement that condemned Hamas for killing more than 1,100 Israelis and abducting 251 people — but then pivoted sharply to attacking Israel, accusing the Israeli government of carrying out an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza and calling Israel’s actions “war crimes.”

Mamdani also criticized U.S. support for Israel and said American tax dollars are funding what he described as “war crimes.”

His remarks, issued on a day of mourning and remembrance for the victims of October 7, have drawn criticism for placing Israel’s actions at the center of his statement while describing the Hamas massacre only briefly.

Full Statement from Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: “This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.

The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.

Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment.

To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.”

Several Reactions:

Raylen Givens: “Absolutely disgusting and disgraceful. You are a filthy, vile person who should never be anywhere near public office. The fact that anyone could read something like this and still decide this is the person they want representing them is beyond me. This is filth. This is who you are, and people need to see it.”

Uri Pilichowski: “While we celebrate D-day and our victory over the Nazis, let us remember that the war also touched the lives of many Nazi children. America killed millions of Germans, Italians, and Japanese in a genocide that culminated in two atomic bombs. Employing moral relativism conflates good and bad.”

Moshe Spern: “You marked the anniversary of a massacre by accusing the people who were massacred of genocide. You’re a pathetic excuse for a Mayor. You clearly hate Jews as much as your wife and family! You couldn’t even go one day supporting Jewish New Yorkers! I am so tired of your antics.”

Loay Alshareef لؤي الشريف: “Dear Mayor Mamdani, Every single innocent Palestinian who has died in Gaza is a tragedy, but to be morally consistent, you should solely blame Hamas, which waged this war in an attempt to annihilate Israel.

Hamas is the real genocide-seeker: it wants to annihilate Israel but it can’t, while Israel could annihilate Gaza but chooses not to. The evil of Hamas and radical Islamists has reached New York City, and I pray you wake up before that evil gets out of control in your city. Make the morally correct decision and listen to those who know.”