QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY: A group representing New York’s Black clergy has been urging Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani to sever ties with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for organizing pro-Hamas rallies.
Rev Johnnie Green, president of Mobilizing Preachers and Communities, which represents 300 houses of worship in the area, sent a letter to Mamdani, stating that “we hope you will leave the DSA” after they “promoted a hate-filled rally,” where protesters cheered Hamas’ slaughter of Jews.
Mamdani, who represents Astoria and western Queens, has also taken part in pro-Palestinian protests in the wake of Hamas' deadliest attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis and the kidnapping of nearly 200 others.
Born in Uganda, Mamdani was elected after defeating incumbent Democrat Aravella Simotas in the 2020 primary election. Before serving as a member of the New York State Assembly, he worked as a foreclosure prevention counselor.
Mamdani is the son of academic Mahmood Mamdani, the director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), and filmmaker Mira Nair.
He graduated from Bronx High School of Science and later went on to earn a bachelor's degree in African studies from Bowdoin College.
What did Johnnie Green say in his letter to Zohran Mamdani?
In his letter to Mamdani, Green asserted “This is a moment to consider what is right — when being an elected official requires courage — that we hope you will leave the DSA.”
“Like you, the DSA stood by while its membership made incendiary and hateful remarks. The day after a terror attack, the DSA promoted a hate-filled rally, where people were photographed displaying swastikas,” he continued, according to the New York Post.
Green pointed out that other liberal officials, such as city comptroller Brad Lander, denounced Hamas' killing and kidnapping of Israelis as "abominable" and declared that there was "no place for glorifying terror."
The preacher continued by claiming that, following the hate-spewed rallies, DSA issued a “tepid apology” but did not condemn Hamas.
The DSA's initial statement following the Hamas attacks on Israel proclaimed "solidarity with Palestine" and blamed the killings on the elected government of the victims, claiming the action was "a direct result of Israel's apartheid regime."
The New York City chapter of the DSA — the party of Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep Jamaal Bowman, Mamdani, and a couple of dozen other prominent New York politicians — had also announced a rally in Times Square, just hours after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel.
Why did Johnnie Green slam Zohran Mamdani?
Green also chastised Mamdani for equating Black House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to segregationist George Wallace in the past since Jeffries is a fervent admirer of the Jewish state.
“After at least 2,251 Palestinians were killed over the course of July 2014, Hakeem Jeffries got on stage at a rally in NYC and paraphrased George Wallace. ‘Israel today, Israel tomorrow, Israel forever,’” Mamdani tweeted last November.
“If Jeffries is considered a progressive, the term has lost all meaning,” he added.
Criticising Mamdani, Green wrote “Black clergy and other leaders have not forgotten how horrifically you compared Leader Jeffries to the bigoted former Alabama Governor George Wallace. A person who makes such comparisons seeks to keep Black leaders and our people down ‘on the plantation’ and is not an ally to help us break free from it.”
“We demand an immediate retraction of your baseless comparisons between Hakeem Jeffries and George Wallace, that you denounce the international terrorist organization Hamas, and that you leave the DSA,” he added.
