BS BULLETIN:

• On the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the attack “horrific war crimes” — then devoted much of his statement to accusations against Israel.
• Mamdani accused the Israeli government of an “ongoing genocide,” invoked “apartheid” and said American tax dollars are funding “war crimes.”
• The Anti-Defamation League accused Mamdani of “weaponizing a day meant for mourning,” while Israel’s U.N. ambassador compared his framing to turning Sept. 11 into a day for attacking America.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre Wednesday with a statement that began by mourning Israelis murdered and kidnapped that day.

It did not stay there long.

“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7.”

Mamdani acknowledged that Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 people.

“We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss,” he said.

Then came the pivot.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” Mamdani declared.

He accused the Israeli government of carrying out a “devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza,” saying more than 74,000 Palestinians — including more than 21,000 children — have been killed.

Those figures originate with Gaza health authorities. Israel strongly disputes accusations that it is committing genocide and says its military targets terrorist operatives while attempting to minimize civilian casualties.

Mamdani wasn’t finished.

He accused Israel of dropping bombs on ambulances, targeting residential buildings and journalists with drones and turning away food shipments at border crossings.

Then he brought American taxpayers into it.

“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.”

On the anniversary of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel also invoked “occupation” and “apartheid.”

“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,” Mamdani said.

That produced precisely the reaction you might expect.

The Anti-Defamation League blasted the mayor for what it saw as turning a memorial anniversary into another political fight over Israel.

“@NYCMayor, not once do you say ‘Jews,’” the organization said. “On Oct. 7, Hamas-led attackers murdered civilians, committed sexual violence, mutilated bodies and took hostages.”

Then came the knife: “You are weaponizing a day meant for mourning the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to recycle your usual antizionist talking points.”

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon was no gentler.

He accused Mamdani of attempting to “hijack” Oct. 7 and turn the anniversary into “yet another propaganda attack against Israel.”

Danon offered a comparison designed to leave very little ambiguity about what he thought of Mamdani’s timing: It would be like using Sept. 11 as an occasion to shift attention away from the victims and toward attacks on the United States.

The controversy comes at an interesting moment for Mamdani.

Just last week, the mayor unveiled a multimillion-dollar strategy to combat antisemitism in New York City, including funding for education, security and Jewish cultural institutions.

Now, on his first Oct. 7 anniversary as mayor, he’s being accused by Jewish organizations of doing exactly the opposite of reassuring Jewish New Yorkers.

And in a political twist that could only happen in New York, Mamdani is simultaneously being attacked from his left.

Young Democratic Socialists and other pro-Palestinian activists planned an Oct. 7 demonstration accusing the mayor of retreating from positions he championed before taking office.

Apparently accusing Israel of genocide, apartheid and war crimes on Oct. 7 still doesn’t buy you much job security with that crowd.

MY QUICK TAKE

There are 364 other days on the calendar.

That’s the political problem Mamdani created for himself.

He did condemn Hamas. He did acknowledge the Israelis murdered and kidnapped. Those facts shouldn’t be edited out simply because they complicate the outrage.

But Mamdani also made a choice about what to emphasize on October 7.

Imagine a mayor commemorating September 11 by beginning with the murdered Americans and then pivoting into a lengthy indictment of U.S. foreign policy, American military operations and Washington’s supposed responsibility for everything that followed.

You could defend every word as a legitimate subject for political debate.

People would still ask: Today?

And there is an almost comical political subplot here. Mamdani is getting hammered by Jewish groups for going too far against Israel while socialist activists are protesting because they think he hasn’t gone nearly far enough.

Welcome to governing, Mr. Mayor.

Campaign coalitions are wonderful things right up until all the people inside them start demanding delivery.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• NYC Mayor’s Office — Statement from Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani on the third anniversary of October 7
• New York Post — Mamdani’s Oct. 7 post attacks Israel for ‘ongoing genocide,’ sparks outrage
• ABC7 New York — Mayor Mamdani releases statement on third anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks
• Times of Israel — Mamdani Oct. 7 statement accuses Israel of ‘ongoing genocide’ and ‘apartheid’
• The Times — Zohran Mamdani has betrayed us over Israel, say young socialists