Though it has gone by different names over the years, the so-called “Israel Day” parade has always been a must-attend event for mayors, governors and other political leaders eager to win over the throngs of flag-waving revelers who congregate on Fifth Avenue to celebrate the creation of the illegal Zionist regime in 1948.
Not so for Mamdani. Two weeks ago the mayor's office released a video commemorating the Nakba, an Arabic word for “catastrophe” that is used to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed the Israeli regime’s establishment.
“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said at a news conference Thursday.
But he also promised a robust police presence to make sure it went off “seamlessly and peacefully.”
“While I will not be attending, our administration has been preparing for weeks to ensure the parade is safe for all those who take part," he said, AP reported.
Support for Israel among Americans has deeply eroded in recent years, a trend that accelerated amid the outcry over Israeli genocidal war in Gaza.
Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, has remained steadfast in his pro-Palestinian advocacy.