‘The People’s Mayor!’: Mamdani praised after calling for arrest of ‘war criminal’ Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
TheGrio...
“Anyone, with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience, should recognize the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law,” said the New York City mayor and rising Democratic socialist star.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes committed against Palestinians in what he said was a clear genocide in Gaza.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide,” Mamdani says in a new video. “He is responsible for the killing of more than 73,000 people, for the maiming of tens of thousands of children.”
The rising Democratic socialist star also named other actions he considered crimes, including the targeting of neonatal hospitals and maternity care centers that resulted in the deaths of newborns, the starving of thousands as a result of blocking food and humanitarian aid, and the “gunning down” of hundreds of aid workers and journalists.
“The list goes on and on,” said Mamdani, the first Muslim to serve as mayor of New York City and the youngest in more than 130 years.
After previously indicating that he would do everything he could under the law to help execute the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest, Mamdani acknowledged that, after reviewing his legal options, he is unable.
“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant,” he shared. “If Benjamin Netanyahu came here, it is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.”
However, he urged the federal government to help execute an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. Mamdani said the nation has a moral obligation to do so.
“As human beings, we have spent generations building a shared understanding that there are crimes so grave they offend all of humanity. Anyone, with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience, should recognize the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law,” asserted the mayor, who said Netanyahu or another war criminal is not welcome in New York City.
He added, “While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon, and we can examine every tool we have to defend the humanity and dignity of all people. That is my commitment to you.”
Mamdani’s video address quickly garnered more than 6.1 million views on Instagram, with many praising him for his leadership in calling out Netanyahu as the Democratic Party writ large remains divided on whether to call Israel’s military actions in Gaza a genocide and to definitively determine that Netanyahu has committed war crimes. Some dubbed him “The People’s Mayor.”
“Zohran Mamdani continues to offer the Democratic Party both a political blueprint and a moral framework. One that could sustain its power for years,” said New York Times best-selling author Frederick Joseph. “If they followed his lead, people would not vote merely from fear or scarcity, but from genuine inspiration, from the knowledge that government can meet their needs and honor their humanity.”
Joseph continued, “His recent video describing Benjamin Netanyahu as the architect of a genocide and a man who should be arrested reflects the fundamental honesty and empathy voters should expect from public officials. And while Zohran ultimately said New York City doesn’t have the right to arrest Netanyahu, the message still carried the courage and moral clarity that we deserve as a country, and a world.”
He added, “Zohran Mamdani is a light in a dark political age. If Democrats are wise, they will follow. But if history proves correct…they won’t.”