NYC Mayor-Elect's Victory Rally Echoes with Free Palestine Chants Amid Jewish Support

Historically, Mamdani has held a strong stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even founding a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine during his undergraduate days at Bowdoin College. A little more than a decade later, as Mamdani's name began to gain recognition, his longstanding unapologetically pro-Palestinian stance became a rallying force behind his platform as well as a point of criticism from opponents, as per Al Jazeera.

Mamdani received endorsements and canvassing support from progressive Jewish organisations like Bend the Arc, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), organisations that have each confronted Israel's role in the war in Gaza through statements on their websites.

Simultaneously, he sustained attacks from far-right activists, Jewish Democrats on Capitol Hill and Zionist activist groups for his firm support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and refusal to call Israel a Jewish state.

As Adam Carlson, founding partner of Zenith Research's poll reflected, the NYC Jewish community has a wide diversity of opinion about politics and positions on Israel and Palestine. The community most clearly differentiates along lines of age, and secular versus conservative practice, but as Jewish support for Mamdani increases, it is evident that these divides are not always so distinct, as per Al Jazeera.

A Rabbi, a supporter of Mamdani told ANI that they looked forward to a bright future. He said that being a Jewish supporter of a Muslim Mayor, it is something that should be replicated even in Palestine.

"We celebrate and say congratulations to Mr Mamdani and to New York City...We look forward to a bright and beautiful future. We are going to send a message to the world and show them an example of Jewish people living under a Muslim Mayor in the United States of America. People should learn and see how this can work, this can work in Palestine as well and in many parts of the world," he said.

"We celebrate and say congratulations to Mr Mamdani and to New York City. We are delighted to see a person of principles, a person of courage who stood up and, despite all intimidation, expressed his opinions regarding crimes being committed in Palestine. We share the sentiment of Mr Mamdani and we say that all that happened in Palestine, not only in the last two years but the last decades, is criminal. We are embarrassed when all of these crimes in Palestine are being done in our name, supposedly," he added.

He further said that Mamdani is a friend of the Jews even while he criticised Israeli actions in Palestine.

"We all consider Mr Mamdani a friend of the Jewish people as he expressed himself many times why he criticises and condemns the crimes of Israel...We look forward to a bright and beautiful future. We are going to send a message to the world and show them an example of Jewish people living under a Muslim Mayor in the United States of America. People should learn and see how this can work, this can work in Palestine as well and in many parts of the world," he said.

New York City's newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, celebrated his historic win by emphasising the city's diverse roots, underscoring his pride in being an immigrant himself, having moved to New York City from Uganda with his family at the age of seven.

- ANI