New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not attend the annual Israel Day Parade on Sunday, becoming the first mayor in decades to skip the event. The parade has been held annually since the 1960s, and New York is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, with about 1 million Jewish residents.
Thousands of people marched through Manhattan streets waving Israeli flags and blue-and-white balloons, with some wearing shirts reading “I love Israel.” However, the mayor was absent. “I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said at a Thursday news conference.
New York’s first Muslim mayor is known for his pro-Palestinian stance. He has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and systematically violating Palestinian rights, allegations that Israel rejects. Two weeks ago, his office released a video commemorating the Nakba—the Arabic word for “catastrophe” referring to the displacement of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Mamdani also condemned Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel as “a horrific war crime” and stressed his commitment to equal rights for both Israelis and Palestinians. Despite boycotting the parade, he promised a robust police presence to ensure it went off “seamlessly and peacefully.” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, attended the parade, saying, “It is the mayor’s decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly.”
The mayor’s decision drew criticism from Israeli officials. Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, accused him of turning “his back on tens of thousands of Jews and supporters of Israel.” Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the boycott “cowardly,” writing on X that “leadership means showing up for all New Yorkers, including the Jews who call this city home.”
Support for Israel among Americans has significantly eroded in recent years amid outcry over Israeli military action in Gaza.
Source: www.dw.com