New York City (QNN)- Public backlash is growing after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned chants supporting Palestinian resistance during a protest outside a synagogue that hosted an event selling stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
The protest took place outside Agudath Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, a synagogue in Queens, where an event was held to sell stolen Palestinian land in illegal Israeli settlements. Such sales are illegal under international law and they form part of the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.
During the protest, pro-Israel demonstrators shouted racial and homophobic slurs. Witnesses reported chants including “death to Palestine,” “we love ICE,” and profanity directed at Mamdani. Zionist demonstrators also threatened to rape or kill counter protesters and a journalist near the scene. They also waved flags supporting US President Donald Trump and the infamous Israeli Kach movement, which is considered a terrorist group even in Israel.
When asked by reporters on Friday to respond to the protest and counter-protest, Mamdani focused on chants heard among pro-Palestine demonstrators that said, “Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here.” In a statement, he said “the rhetoric and displays that we saw are wrong and have no place in our city.”
He added that his team was in close contact with the New York Police Department regarding both the protest and the counter-protest.
Mamdani later wrote on X that chants supporting what he referred to as "a terrorist organization" have no place in New York City. He said authorities must protect public safety around houses of worship while also safeguarding the constitutional right to protest.
His comments triggered sharp criticism online, with many criticizing him for ignoring the core issue of the event itself.
One user, Blakeley, asked why Mamdani did not condemn the illegal sale of Palestinian land. Journalist Nick Cruse criticized Mamdani for “tone policing” while Israel continues to kill Palestinians, using inflammatory language to accuse him of siding with power rather than victims.
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Another user, Mirah, said Mamdani’s stance equates resistance to genocide with terrorism, drawing a historical comparison to Jewish resistance in Nazi ghettos. James Rehwald questioned whether Mamdani’s condemnation of armed struggle against colonialism signals how he would respond to resistance against authoritarianism in the United States.
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Sabby Sabs argued that Palestinians’ homes being marketed and sold in the US should have been the central issue, not the language used by protesters. Gato Fumador added that hosting land sales linked to dispossession inside a synagogue amounts to a deliberate provocation that deserved greater scrutiny.
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The controversy highlights growing tensions in New York over Israel and its influence on the US politics, as debates intensify over free speech, protest limits, and the political framing of Palestinian resistance amid Israel’s ongoing genocide and settlement expansion.
