Mamdani is a "raging antisemite

Rating

False. At its broadest, antisemitism is generally defined as hatred of and prejudice toward Jews. DW looked into claims of antisemitism and found the following information: Mamdani has worked with Jewish politicians, such as in 2018, when he served as campaign manager for Jewish politician Ross Barkan's bid for New York State Senate, and has been endorsed by others. Mamdani has spoken out against antisemitism on the campaign trail. In an interview with progressive Jewish US digital newspaper Forward he said "it is absolutely incumbent upon me to condemn" evidence of antisemitism. He has also stated on various occasions that there is "no room for antisemitism" in New York City, or the world. Mamdani does not, however, condemn the controversial term "globalize the intifada," a reference to civilian uprisings by Palestinians against Israel. While critics claim this is incitement to violence against Jews, Mamdani maintained in a podcast interview that it is an expression of a desire for equality. Complicating things, there are also various codified definitions of antisemitism, such as the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition or the Jerusalem Declaration, which vary, among other things, in how they relate criticism of Israel and Zionism to antisemitism. For instance, the IHRA includes "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination" as a form of antisemitism while the Jerusalem definition allows for "opposing Zionism as a form of nationalism." In a TV debate, Mamdani stated he "believes Israel has the right to exist ... as a state with equal rights" but did not explicitly recognize Israel as a specifically Jewish state. This could be considered antisemitism according to the IHRA definition, but not the Jerusalem Declaration. The case is similar when it comes to Mamdani's long-standing support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which advocates for the use of economic action against Israel to pressure it to change its policies toward Palestinians. While some individuals, organizations and countries, including Germany, define support for BDS as inherently antisemitic, others do not. In short, while Mamdani's views in relation to Israel and the Middle East conflict are controversial for some, they cannot be conclusively defined as antisemitic due to the differences in perceptions of what defines antisemitism in relation to Israel.

Reviewed by Deutsche Welle ↗ · June 27, 2025