Editor’s Note: New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, upset former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic party primary for mayor of New York City. In the wake of Tuesday’s primary election, the Anti-Defamation League issued the following news release:
NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday called on all candidates for elected office, including those running in the New York City mayoral election, to disassociate themselves from and avoid using language that plays into antisemitic tropes and stereotypes.
“At this time of record antisemitism, our country needs leaders at all levels who are unequivocal in condemning this oldest of hatreds,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “We call on all candidates to not only to condemn and avoid using language that is harmful to the Jewish community, but also to disassociate themselves and publicly disavow themselves from it.
“They must listen to the large majority of Jewish New Yorkers who have made their concerns about antisemitism clear. ADL will be forthright in calling out antisemitism during this campaign season, whatever the source.”
As New York City heads to a general mayoral election, many in the Jewish community and beyond are distraught over language that has become more common during the campaign season. Candidates and the people surrounding them have used language playing into dangerous antisemitic canards that time and time again have been used to incite hatred and violence against Jews.
ADL’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents shows that New York City suffers from more antisemitic incidents than any metropolitan area across the nation, with 976 antisemitic incidents reported across the five boroughs in 2024.
As candidates begin to campaign for the general election, let’s be clear:
Calls for “globalizing the Intifada” invoke a decades-old history of attacks on the Jewish people and are an act of an incitement that encourages violence against Jews.
Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the state of Israel are founded on the ideology which effectively rejects or ignores the Jewish people’s right of self-determination.
Slogans such as “From the River to the Sea,” are a call to dismantle the state of Israel, and deny Jews the right to self-determination and safe haven in their ancestral homeland.
Use of Holocaust analogies are inappropriate and deeply offensive and hurtful to Jews.
ADL also called on candidates to explain their specific plans to support the Jewish community at a time of record antisemitic incidents and violent antisemitic attacks.
“Antisemitic rhetoric should have no place in our electoral discourse,” said Greenblatt. “When we hear this kind of language on the campaign trail, we will not hesitate to call it out and demand the candidates speak out. We need to know the specific plans of candidates to support the Jewish community. This is an issue for all candidates to explain in detail where they stand on the issues that impact the safety and security of the New York City Jewish community.”
ADL urged the candidates to:
Prioritize the safety and security of the entire Jewish community of NYC.
Provide detailed plans to ensure Jewish people of all levels of religious observance can work and worship, shop and socialize in this city without fear of facing harassment and hate.
Explain specifically how they plan to prevent all Jews, including Israelis, from facing demonization and discrimination.
Offer protection for Jewish people in a manner that ensures their constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, are not violated.
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Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League