The Patriot Post® · Zohran Mamdani Should Be Barred From 9/11 Memorial

Many families of the victims of the September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorist attacks are demanding that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani be barred from any public appearances on the 25th anniversary at Ground Zero.

Giovanni Galante’s wife was among the 2,977 victims, and he has started a petition to ban Mamdani from the event. Galante explained, “Our objection is based on his public record — his failure to meaningfully acknowledge the horror of that day, and his employment of, support for, or association with individuals who have minimized 9/11, defended terrorists, or even suggested America ‘deserved’ the attacks.”

Galante’s appeal is legitimate. Mamdani, a Muslim, has not only failed to condemn antisemitic views in general, but he has also refused to condemn “globalize the intifada,” the jihadi rally cry for violence against Jews and others.

Furthermore, Mamdani has associated with and defended a notable list of problematic individuals, such as al-Qaida member Anwar al-Awlaki. Mamdani even blamed the U.S. for radicalizing Al-Awlaki, an imam who interacted with three of the 9/11 jihadi terrorists at mosques they attended. Galante’s petition observes, “Mamdani has blamed the United States for radicalizing Anwar al-Awlaki, an al Qaeda propagandist linked to the 9/11 hijackers. Critics have likened this to blaming victims rather than perpetrators.”

Mamdani has also vocally supported Democratic Socialists of America political candidates who have expressed antisemitic views. One of them, Aber Kawas, is running for the New York State Senate. Of the 9/11 terror attack, she dismissively stated, “The idea we have to apologize for a terror attack that a couple of people did, and then there is no apology or reparations for genocides and for slavery, et cetera, is something I find reprehensible.”

Mamdani’s own father, a professor of African history and colonialism at Columbia University, falsely accuses Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians and has expressed sympathy for suicide bombers.

All things considered, the New York mayor should be barred from showing up at Ground Zero this September 11, simply on the basis that his own ideology implicitly defends the actions of the mass-murdering terrorists.

He has also repeatedly asserted that America’s free-market capitalist system is responsible for producing inequality all over the world. Nothing could be further from the truth, but like many gifted politicians, Mamdani is a smooth talker who peddles overly simplistic cause-and-effect, victim-versus-oppressor identity politics. He adeptly avoids answering questions that expose the inherent bankruptcy of his radical leftist Marxist views. At the same time, he smears those who have actually worked hard, invested in America, and been rewarded for doing so as the problem.

The last person America needs standing at Ground Zero is Mamdani, who blames our free-market economy, our American ideals, and our foreign policy for the worst act of terrorism in U.S. history.

Zohran Mamdani is not interested in preserving or upholding the American Constitution. As he has been displaying as mayor, he seeks to fundamentally change not just New York City but the nation writ large. He wants a socialist revolution.