{"id":22916,"date":"2026-05-18T21:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/mamdanis-nakba-day-video-that-never-was\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:02:43","slug":"mamdanis-nakba-day-video-that-never-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/mamdanis-nakba-day-video-that-never-was\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani\u2019s Nakba Day video that never was"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mayor<\/p>\n

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 48<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

WOULD HAVE IF HE COULD HAVE:<\/b> Mayor Zohran Mamdani planned to appear in a video he released over the weekend to commemorate the displacement of Palestinians that occurred in connection with the State of Israel\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n

He only opted against being in the video<\/a> \u2014 which drew backlash from local Jewish leaders \u2014 because he fell ill, he said this morning at a Bronx press event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was intending to be there as part of it,\u201d Mamdani told reporters. \u201cHowever, I did fall sick, and we didn\u2019t want to create any kind of complication for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani was referring to Inea Bushnaq, a woman who lived in the British Mandate for Palestine as a child and was featured in the video released on the mayor\u2019s official social media handles late Friday.<\/p>\n

In the 4-minute video, Bushnaq, filmed in her home in New York City, recalls how she was nine when she and her family had to flee their home in East Jerusalem in 1948 during the \u201cNakba,\u201d an Arabic word that translates into \u201ccatastrophe\u201d and denotes the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians upon the establishment of Israel. \u201cThe Zionists were coming into Jerusalem,\u201d Bushnaq says in the video.<\/p>\n

Local Jewish leaders, including a member of Mamdani\u2019s transition team<\/a>, were outraged by the video, arguing it provided a one-sided, overly simplified account of the region\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

As noted by The Forward\u2019s Jacob Kornbluh<\/a>, many Jews around the world contend the displacement of Palestinians did not just occur at the hand of Israeli forces. Rather, they point to neighboring Arab states, including Egypt and Syria, which launched military attacks in response to the new Jewish state\u2019s creation in the wake of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

At his press conference today, Mamdani was asked for a response to the criticism that his team\u2019s video excluded critical context.<\/p>\n

\u201cI firmly believe that acknowledging any one people\u2019s pain does not preclude you from the acknowledgement of another people\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it comes to New Yorkers like Inea and so many others, not only has their pain never been acknowledged, but so often we have seen that even their identity is up for debate, and my message to each and every New Yorker is that this is a city for you and that we will continue to be proud of everyone who calls it home.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments come as he\u2019s set to host a reception commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month at Gracie Mansion tonight. The mayor\u2019s release of the Nakba Day video has led some Jewish leaders to boycott the event. They include Mark Treyger<\/a>, a former City Council member who now leads the Jewish Community Relations Council, and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, the FDNY\u2019s chief chaplain and the executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Sam Berger, a Democrat who represents large Jewish communities in Queens, was still incensed by the video when asked about it this afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor has spent his career bending reality with his policies and his budget, so it\u2019s no surprise he\u2019s trying to bend history too,\u201d he said in a statement to Playbook.<\/p>\n

The decision by Mamdani to release the video on Nakba Day<\/a> is part of his longstanding record of aligning himself with Palestinian rights and struggles.<\/p>\n

As a candidate last year, Mamdani, the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor, faced criticism for refusing to initially denounce the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada,” which many see as a call to violence against Jewish people. As mayor, he has said he\u2019s committed to combating all forms of hate, including antisemitism, while also continuing to accuse Israel of perpetrating a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza as part of the war launched in response to Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack.<\/p>\n

Gustavo Gordillo, the co-chair of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mamdani is a member, celebrated the video, saying it\u2019s consistent with the chapter\u2019s \u201chistory of standing up for Palestinian solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresenting the historic struggle of the people of the city is part of the mayor’s job, and I think that’s what he was doing here,\u201d Gordillo said. \u2014 Chris Sommerfeldt and Jason Beeferman\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL<\/h3>\n

\"Beth<\/p>\n

BETH DAVIDSON VS. BETH DAVIDSON:<\/b> Beth Davidson\u2019s congressional campaign has made it crystal clear on her website she absolutely supports establishing term limits \u2014 but if you ask her in person you may get an answer that sounds completely different.<\/p>\n

Davidson, who\u2019s running in the Democratic primary to unseat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, says on the \u201cpriorities\u201d section of her campaign website<\/a> that she wants to \u201cenact term limits and stronger ethics rules, to keep career politicians and corrupt insiders in check.\u201d<\/p>\n

But at a candidate forum in Ossining earlier this month, when she and her Democratic rivals were asked whether they would \u201csupport term limits for U.S. representatives and senators,\u201d Davidson responded, \u201cI actually don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome districts have members that have served them a long time. Some we\u2019re done with after two years. I think it has to be up to the voters,\u201d Davidson explained.<\/p>\n

When asked about the discrepancy, Davidson\u2019s campaign said the language on her campaign website is consistent with her support for term limits in the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeth has clear plans to take on corruption in DC, including enacting term limits for Supreme Court Justices, banning stock trading by Members of Congress, and ending Citizens United to keep special interests and corporations out of our elections,\u201d her campaign manager Ellen McCormick told Playbook.<\/p>\n

Davidson was the only major candidate at the forum who opposed term limits for members of Congress, with her opponents Cait Conley and Effie Phillips-Staley supporting the idea. \u2014 Jason Beeferman<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

From the Capitol<\/h3>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

TRAIN DREAMS: <\/b>Gov. Kathy Hochul this morning visited the state office building in Lower Manhattan where negotiators for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority\u2019s Long Island Railroad and five striking unions are meeting. As of mid-afternoon, no deal to end the LIRR strike had been reached.<\/p>\n

In a video posted on social media<\/a>, the governor said the morning commute had gone \u201csmoother than expected\u201d and that she was fighting to \u201cprotect our taxpayers and our commuters from having to pay hundreds of dollars more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside, picketers \u2014 one of them wearing a t-shirt that said \u201cFuck You, Pay Me\u201d \u2014 chanted slogans like, \u201cNew York is a union town, Janno Lieber shut it down.\u201d Lieber is the head of the MTA.<\/p>\n

Hochul has so far appeared to stake out a more pro-MTA position than Gov. Mario Cuomo did during the last LIRR strike in 1994, which was also a gubernatorial election year. To quickly end the strike, Cuomo \u2014 whose son Hochul succeeded as governor \u2014 brokered a deal that gave the unions<\/a> what they wanted.<\/p>\n

But Hochul also appears to be keeping her political distance while blaming President Donald Trump<\/a> for the strike.<\/p>\n

In 1994, The New York Times reported that Cuomo was \u201cpositively hyperactive in confronting<\/a>\u201d the strike by cancelling public appearances, including a ticker-tape parade for the New York Rangers who had just won the Stanley Cup. The Times said he\u2019d also \u201cplaced round-the-clock telephone calls to the top negotiators, members of Congress, Long Island leaders and the aides he sent to the bargaining table.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time around, Hochul has never publicly mentioned the possibility of Congress intervening. Trying to go that route is a nightmare for labor-friendly Democrats: Railroad unions are still bitter about when President Joe Biden got Congress to head off a freight rail strike in 2022. There were crickets from Congress last year when a union of train engineers went on strike and idled New Jersey Transit trains.<\/p>\n

Trump said Sunday that until a day after the LIRR strike had begun he\u2019d \u201cnever even heard about it<\/a>.\u201d (The president in September<\/a> and again in January<\/a> issued executive orders to create three-member panels to investigate the dispute and issue reports \u2014 a standard move in any rail labor dispute.) On Sunday afternoon, federal mediators summoned both sides to negotiations at the MTA headquarters. Those lasted late into the night and resumed this morning.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s argument is that the Trump administration last year released the unions from one part of the mediation process early, a maneuver that set up a series of cooling off periods that ended Saturday, when the strike began. The part of the process she\u2019s referring to allows federal officials to indefinitely keep unions in mediation without the ability to strike as long as there\u2019s a reasonable chance of a settlement. Some of those mediations lasted for years.<\/p>\n

This time around, all five unions and the MTA participated in mediation sessions between March 2024 and July 2025 before they were released in August. \u2014 Ry Rivard<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

FROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

FOOD DESERT:<\/b> Mamdani\u2019s plan to open a city-owned grocery store<\/a> next year in Hunts Point could be a boon for access to healthy food in the bodega-dominated South Bronx, where diabetes and obesity rates far exceed citywide averages.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of bodegas are spread throughout four ZIP codes in the South Bronx, accounting for 35 percent of all food establishments in the area, according to a Health Department analysis<\/a> released last month. While most of the bodegas offered fresh produce, a third of them sold no fresh vegetables besides onions and potatoes \u2014 and, overall, healthy meal and snack options were limited, the analysis found.<\/p>\n

For every supermarket in the South Bronx, there are four fast food restaurants and six bodegas, the analysis found.<\/p>\n

In Hunts Point, the average cost of a standard grocery basket \u2014 which includes staples like eggs, deli beef, tomatoes, lettuce, bread, potatoes, milk and bananas \u2014 was $39.20 last year, but up to half of those items were generally unavailable, according to the analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking sure every New Yorker can buy fresh, affordable groceries in their own neighborhood is a key part of our affordability agenda,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n

The Economic Development Corp. is preparing a request for proposals for private operators to manage the Hunts Point grocery store and an additional store in East Harlem, which was announced in April and is slated to open by 2029. \u2014 Maya Kaufman<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n

\u2014 FRONT AND CENTER:<\/b> Puerto Rico has emerged as a key issue in the race to succeed Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, as rival progressive camps clash over the district\u2019s political future. (THE CITY<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 PRISON REFORM:<\/b> Still awaiting appointments from Hochul to reach a quorum, New York\u2019s Committee on Correction is unable to meet or vote, delaying jail reform implementations. (New York Focus<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014 LUIGI TAKES A HIT:<\/b> A Manhattan judge ruled that the gun and notebook seized from Luigi Mangione will be admissible at his upcoming murder trial, while excluding items obtained during an initial warrantless search. (The New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. <\/b>Read it here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 48 WOULD HAVE IF HE COULD HAVE: Mayor Zohran Mamdani planned to appear in a video he released over the weekend to commemorate the displacement of Palestinians that occurred in connection with the State of Israel\u2019s creation. He only opted against being in the video \u2014 which drew backlash from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}